Anyone know what’s up with this? Japanese and Hawaiian sushi - as well as even cheapo mainland USA tuna - are all awesome. Singapore and Hong Kong had good tuna, too. Pretty much everwhere I’ve ever been, sushi style tuna seems hard to screw up in a sushi shop, seared or not.
But… Taiwan’s tuna… Something’s creepy about it. It’s pinkish, more opaque and squishier (often having some mysterious infinitely-chewy parts inside that I often have to spit out, much like a chewy piece of cheap steak).
Anyone know what’s up with this? Is the tuna not actually tuna here, or just some cheapo subspecies? Feels like the breakfast “ham” in terms of quality comparisons.
Well I used to wonder why cans of tuna says they are dolphin free and it seems it was fairly common for dolphins to get caught up while catching tunas or something. Some Japanese likes eating dolphin/whales it seems (Greenpeace hates Japan for this reason).
It’s also possible that the tuna slices you have been eating were tunas destined for cans. Seeing how cheap the cans are I imagine those aren’t bluefin tuna.
Canned tuna is interesting: it’s so totally different from sushi tuna (or Taiwan’s off-tuna). I haven’t had canned tuna since I was a kid, but wasn’t it white in color? Because it’s fully cooked? Maybe the only time I saw fully cooked tuna was in a can
I don’t usually like tuna sashimi because I don’t like the texture (I prefer salmon sashimi). I don’t think the tuna that you can get at most places here is any better or worse than the US.
BUT
The only good tuna I’ve ever had in my life was at the sushi stands at the Donggang Huaqiao Fish Market. Give it a try when you get a chance. Pick any of the sushi counters, and their tuna will be amazing.
These are most likely swordfish. Its flesh is pale and pink when fresh. More white-ish when it’s not. Swordfish is a ubiquitous and cheap fish, and easy to obtain and serve as sashimi here. Now, fresh swordfish is delicious. I’ve had a fresh one, and it’s as good as tuna.
With that said, many shops need to keep it fresh or treat it correctly. It also has very tough tendons between its body parts. If the shop doesn’t cut it accurately, you will chew through tough flesh. Cutting against the grain is a must for these types of fish.
You might not see a decent tuna in Taiwan for a few reasons.
It’s pretty expensive. Swordfish is considerably cheaper than tuna, and with the current market, many shops are willing to spend less on quality tuna.
You have to find either; a reputable fisherman who will stock good quality tuna locally or a reputable middle broker who has proprietary fishing vessels to catch and store their tuna. I’m using the latter. The factory had to interview me to make sure I had proper storage devices and knowledge before it allowed me to make any purchases.
Lack of general knowledge.
You’d be surprised how many shops need to gain knowledge of the differences between tuna varieties. I’ve searched shop after shop, and they couldn’t tell me the difference between Yellowfin and Bigeye tuna.
I use Bigeye, as it has the best cost and taste. Most Japanese chain shops use the same fish since the Bluefin is expensive. Some of them cost upwards of 4000NT per kilo.
Tuna is extremely finicky by the body parts. Sometimes I get like Michelin star quality piece, and then I get dog s$%. That’s why high-end restaurants charge a premium.
Parasites in salmon are more common within Atlantic salmons (a la Costco) or untreated (not frozen). When I was in the States, one of the customers claimed she had tapeworms from eating the salmon we served. After that, we began using frozen salmons.
