From DR Noel:
Sushi at a picnic? How is this possible?
The whole point of sushi is to start with incredibly fresh fish and to eat it as soon as it's cut, within a matter of minutes.
Now I'm trying to picture this, really I am. Somebody with knives and cutting boards and those roll-the-roll mats accompanies you to the picnic. But how does the fish stay fresh? I'm assuming styrofoam coolers are your method of refrigeration. Good enough for cook-out meats, sure, but uncooked fish? Ew and double ew!
Then from DR SWW:
In Japan, sushi is quite often a part of a bento box meal, which is taken with the diner to wherever the meal is to be eaten. This has a tradition dating for hundreds of years, to before there was refrigeration. Maki, the rolled form of sushi, is particularly popular in bento boxes.
While quality and freshness are key to Japanese cuisine, there's never been a dictum that sushi has to be eaten "within minutes" of it's preparation. Somebody seems to have been pulling Noel's leg on this one, making up rules where there really are none.
Then from DR Robin:
In fact, the sushi was picked up (by Michael and I) at a lovely place called "Maki of Japan". It was very delicious. I especially liked the eel rolls; however, I believe it was the quantity of the foodstuffs that gave me an unquiet belly last night, not the variety. For a good three hours, I pretty much did nothing but eatin' and conversatin'.
I was thinking they probably served rolls - or
maki sushi - at the picnic. Although places like Costco and Sam's Club do make big sushi platters-to-go now... And with more of those in-grocery-store sushi counters popping up all over the place...
Ideally, sushi should be prepared right before you eat it. Well,
sashimi and
nigiri sushi should be - the type of sushi that truly features the fish. This way the fish and rice are at the right temperature and texture. But the key word here is "ideally". Nigiri sushi pops up on bento boxes all the time. *And although the FDA may not approve, as long as the fish was fresh and safe at the time it was cut, it's shelf-life - although still short - is longer than you would think.
And in the "science and art" of sushi, the fish should not be that far below room and/or body temperature. If it's too cold, the flavor is muted, lost. If it's too warm, then it's cooked.
But it should be cool enough that the warmth of your mouth - your body temp - should allow the flavor of the fish to come out fully - and melt the fat in the fish. Fatty tuna,
toro, is the ideal test for this. There is even some folklore out there that the fish should be same temperature as a geisha's hands.
Maki sushi, rolls, however, can be prepared in advance, and usually are for parties and gatherings. However, when large amounts of maki are prepared, the types of "fillings" involved are usually "safer" - vegetables, cooked shrimp, surimi, smoked salmon, eel, etc. But if fresh fish is used - tuna, mackerel, salmon, etc. - as long as the rolls are kept properly "cool", all is well. *When I was in Melbourne, the array of maki sushi stands in the shopping district was astounding - and their wares were quite good.
There is a line of frozen(!) sushi that may be making it's way to the States soon. It comes in a specially designed microwavable package that allows the fish to be defrosted without being cooked, and lets the rice to be brought up to an ideal temperature. I've seen write ups about it here and there, and I have some friends in Japan who give it the "thumbs up". In other words, anything is possible.
OH! And I have been at a picnic where someone was rolling rolls. All the prep work - slicing - was done in advance. It was just a matter of combining the rice, fish and vegetables according to the diners' requests. And, I, myself, have had a sushi party before. As long as the prep is taken care of, it's actually not too hard a feat to pull off once the guests arrive. Just remember, if you start with bad fish, you will end up with bad sushi no matter how much soy sauce and wasabi you put on it!
