How long can you keep sashimi in the fridge?
In this brief guide, we are going to answer the question “How long can you keep sashimi in the fridge?”, discuss answers to other related questions like can you freeze sashimi to increase its shelf life, and how can you tell if sashimi has gone bad.
How long can you keep sashimi in the fridge?
Sashimi can be kept in the refrigerator for about a day (24 hours) only. This shorter life span is because the meat is a very perishable commodity for microorganisms (spoilage and pathogenic), and sashimi is known to be a highly perishable commodity for microorganisms. Therefore, sashimi is only good to be used within 24 hours when refrigerated.
If you have prepared sashimi at home, make sure that as soon as it is thawed it is either eaten or refrigerated within 4 hours.
Can you freeze sashimi to increase its shelf life?
The fish that you are going to use for making sashimi can be kept in the freezer to prolong its shelf life. But once sashimi is prepared, it is not a good idea to freeze it. This is because sashimi quality fish has most likely already been frozen once. Freezing it again will not help you increase its shelf life, but the quality of the fish will deteriorate because of the formation of bigger ice crystals, and you will end up having mushy, fishy meat when you will take it out to enjoy.
If you are going to buy frozen sashimi quality meat from the market, this too requires very care. The slightest of the thawing process can keep it at risk of not being able to be used after some days, even when you have placed it in the freezer soon after coming home. To deal with such a situation, you can keep an icebox or an ice cooler with you while going to the market for buying sashimi. This will help you keep the frozen sashimi in the frozen state, thus, minimizing its risk of thawing.
How to store sashimi in the best way?
Just because of the shorter life span of sashimi, it doesn’t mean that you can not store it. Sashimi can be stored for a day if you keep it in an air-tight container or a zipper bag.
Keeping sashimi at room temperature is not a good idea at all. The quality of raw fish is completely deteriorated because of the ability of the bacteria to grow avidly on the raw fish at room temperature. So it is better to toss off sashimi that you left at room temperature for more than two hours.
To avoid the avid growth of bacteria on sashimi, it is better to refrigerate it as soon as possible. The refrigeration temperature will help you keep the growth of microorganisms at bay. To keep sashimi in the fridge, you need to wrap it up in a good manner to avoid the contact of direct air. Also, you can place the wrapped sashimi in an air-tight container or a zipper bag if you are more concerned with food safety. Try to keep this container on the shelf of the fridge for constant temperature as the temperature fluctuates more in the door of the fridge.
How can you tell if sashimi has gone bad?
As several risks are associated with the consumption of raw fishes, it is very important to know about the quality of the sashimi before eating it, because eating bad sashimi can be worse than eating raw fish. If you want to examine the quality of sashimi, some telltale signs can help you do this more professionally and more confidently.
The first telltale sign is the firmness of the fish. After gently pressing your finger on a piece of fish, the flesh should spring back immediately. If it does not, or if the fish feels mushy to the touch, it is not fresh and should not be eaten.
Secondly, the color of sashimi can also be helpful for you to judge the quality of sashimi. It is a visual cue that can be used to determine if the fish on your plate has likely been sitting in a cooler longer than it ought to have been.
What are the risks associated with the consumption of sashimi?
Sashimi, being a kind of raw fish, poses health risks for persons with a weak immune system. As it is raw, it harbors various parasites and bacteria such as liver flukes, tapeworms, Salmonella, Listeria, Vibrio, and Bacillus cereus. Consuming sashimi can lead you to be a victim of parasitic infection with acute symptoms. Even more, if the worms don’t get coughed up or vomited out, they can burrow into the walls of your intestines and cause a localized immune response.
The bacterial infection associated with the consumption of sashimi is related to food poisoning with general symptoms of vomiting, nausea, abdominal cramps, and fever. These symptoms can vary in their severity based on the type of bacteria causing the infection.
Other FAQs about Sashimi which you may be interested in.
How long does sashimi last in the fridge?
Conclusion:
In this brief guide, we answered the question “How long can you keep sashimi in the fridge?”, discussed answers to other related questions like can you freeze sashimi to increase its shelf life, and how can you tell if sashimi has gone bad.
