Sushi grade was always the freshest tuna available when I was in the fish business. As a wholesaler, that meant knowing when the fish came to port, the method of catch, and in the case of tuna, taking a 'core sample' at the dock to see, feel and taste the fish for quality.

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I think the FAQ maintainers point is that there is no actual grade of fish called 'sushi grade.' It's just a colloquial term used to describe the perceived quality of the fish. It's interesting that people toss around a term that actually has no qualified meaning though :)

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You can certainly buy any raw Tuna or Salmon from any fish store and eat it like sushi but you may end up being in the bathroom for a long time or worse getting some other stomach virus.

Thats why it has to be sushi fresh quality.

Not to mention Wasabi is a must... it helps kill bacteria.

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Living in the northeast literally a stone's throw from the ocean (I can't quite spit that far), I have cultivated a very good local fish monger. If I want to serve sushi, I tell him a week before. He knows that I know that essentially all fish is frozen, so he doesn't need to b.s. me, and gets me the right quality at the right time. I wouldn't really trust anyone else without a long talk and a good reputation.

There are now plenty of Asian markets around for other ingredients, plus I'm about 60 minutes drive from Canal Street in NYC.

I don't know what I'd do in Dubuque, though.

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"Not to mention Wasabi is a must... it helps kill bacteria."

Except that what you get almost everywhere in the States and through most of Japan isn't actually wasabi :-)

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I don't know what to do in Dubuque either, but in Minneapolis the best thing to do is have a good relationship with a good fishmonger, just like everywhere else in the world. While, there aren't a lot of them here, most people know who is reputable, if they are the sushi making type.

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"I think the FAQ maintainers point is that there is no actual grade of fish called 'sushi grade.' It's just a colloquial term used to describe the perceived quality of the fish."

Kinda like "organic" -- isn't everything that grows "organic"?

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