I became friends with the chef/owner of my local sushi place. I asked him why he didn't sell "white tuna" like his competition did. He told me that escolar (1) is not tuna, and (2) is impossible to prepare safely as a sushi dish. It's a warm water fish, and as such is much more likely to carry parasites than cold water fish, apparently. No amount of cleaning can eliminate the risk of contamination. "I like my customers," he said, "so I don't serve them that fish."

Needless to say, I am a loyal customer.

I certainly wouldn't want to eat escolar. According to Wikipedia, escolar has been banned from consumption in Japan since 1997. You know, the country that brought sushi to North America. And this the same place where they willingly eat natto.

If they're unwilling to touch this fish, you know there's got to be something horribly wrong with it.

Regarding bluefin... again, you won't get that by accident. It's very expensive. It being endangered is a political issue, not an issue of fraud.

that said, the most delicious sushi i've ever eaten was in cleveland of all places. i'm choosing to believe the fish came from the cuyahoga river. tasty, tasty poision.

I was always amazed that the chefs on "Hell's Kitchen" are able to tell one white flaky fish from another... I'll bet 3/4 of the chefs out there (sushi or not) wouldn't be able to tell most of fish meat apart.

*rimshot*

Escolar is called Butterfish because of it's delicate flavor and buttery texture - it is a joy to consume raw, but is very high in cholesterol. Ask a fishmonger about eating it raw sometime - they'll either wax poetic or tell you you'll die. For those of us who order it every time we go into a sushi bar, take a guess which side we're on. ;)

As for RED tuna - Maguro - it's kind of hard to fake. As for endangered, that's to be expected at Sushi bars in Denver - 99% of the fish you're going to find there is frozen and imported from overseas. Keep in mind that we're in the minority as far as countries that respect endangered species law, and these fish are sent over frozen by the tens of thousands of pounds on cargo ships. To a sushi chef, maguro is maguro, bluefin maguro is bluefin maguro - they're not going to wonder what region it came from or whether the bluefin in that region are endangered or not.

And this is generally not an issue with the supplier because any chef who confuses escolar with yellowfin is incompetent and should put down his chef's knife and apply at Mcdonalds.

It wasn't pretty... at least not the next day.

Good God, escolar is inedible. It does indeed contain indigestible fats. Didn't eat the potato chips that made you soil yourself? Don't eat escolar.

The reason behind the confusion is that escolar is commonly sold as "white tuna."

(Reposted because my comment did not originally go wher I expected...)

@pinecone99: Good God, escolar is inedible. It does indeed contain indigestible fats. Didn't eat the potato chips that made you soil yourself? Don't eat escolar.

The reason behind the confusion is that escolar is commonly sold as "white tuna."

I want a handheld DNA tester! As a frequent consumer of fish, overfishing is one of my biggest concerns when eating out or shopping in the grocery store. It has definitely affected my individual buying habits.

Having said that...the fake white tuna aka Escolar is actually REALLY tasty. No orange-oily discharge from my butt, so i'm ok!

P.S. - your link to the scientific report goes back to this post.

This is why you don't buy sushi from gas stations, and you only go to top notch sushi restaurants. Also, avoid tuna at sushi buffets. If you're going for tuna sashimi, please just go with the top quality stuff.

I am so completely glad I don't eat sushi.