Superstar-Sashimi

Clockwise from top right: Scallop (hotate); Pacific saury (sanma); Yellowtail/ Japanese amberjack (hamachi); Olive flounder/ bastard halibut--LOL (hirame); Tuna (maguro); Salmon (shake/ sake) 

It's preeetty obvious that I like sashimi. The genius in me figured a filler-post of sashimi pictures would be a nice intermission between the lengthy, wordy ones. I scavenged a couple of pictures taken on my phone and I do apologise for the ones defaced by the Instagram border. 

The usual suspects. Clockwise from top: Scallop (hotate); Tuna (maguro); Salmon belly (sake/ shake harasu); Yellowtail (hamachi); Escolar ("shiro maguro"/ real Japanese name: aburasokomutsu; being called "white tuna" in japanese is a common misnomer; escolar consumption is actually banned in Japan due to associated health risks with its high wax content BUT consuming less than 6oz in a sitting shouldn't cause any harm--according to some info found online). When ordering assorted sashimi I tend to have escolar switched with something else. All you buffet-sashimi vultures now know to stay away from this fish. 

Most of the sashimi are from my neighbourhood Japanese restaurant Ishin and they serve the freshest sashimi in town, priced very reasonably too considering that most of the fish are flown in from Japan bi-weekly. I've sampled a fair share of sashimi around town and have yet to find a place with fresher and more value-for-money sashimi. They aren't by all means that cheap but for the quality you get, the prices are warranted. If you find yourself at Ishin, the scallop sashimi is amazing.

Oh and perilla leaves--from the mint family--(shiso) are edible. They're the green leaves served with sashimi and I love them. These leaves are not just decorative in nature but also serve as a bactericide--perfect when paired with raw fish. It is unfortunate that most Malaysians wouldn't know they're edible and would choose not to eat the leaves or bother looking them up. Because of this most restaurants have either stopped serving perilla leaves or have provided less in a sashimi assortment (to my disappointment of course). Perilla leaves when snipped (cut into thin strips), make a great garnish for pastas and rice. You will find them used that way in Japan; on top of Japanese pastas, pizzas and contemporary rice dishes. They also taste great as tenpura or wrapped around a protein for kushiyaki/ yakitori. 

So yeah, edumacate yourselves!

Yes, I did type e-du-ma-cate. For no particular reason. *shrug*

The salmon belly sashimi above was at Sushi Zanmai.

I can't believe I've done this to myself at three in the morning.