question for salmon eaters :)

[bluegirl]

hey! ^^

I just have a quick question. A friend of mine has just took over a small sushi restuarant that serves sockeye salmon. (this is in canada) and they're not that experienced with filleting the fish yet... those damn bones! Anyways their supplier sells salmon fillet but its that "trout-salmon" so they were thinking of switching to that instead. What they want to know is, is there a difference in taste and colour? (sockeye salmon is very red...) I dont eat that much raw salmon, so i cant help them out there.. so any advice would be greatly appreicated! Thanks!

[Taro Toporific]

their supplier sells salmon fillet but its that "trout-salmon" so they were thinking of switching to that instead. What they want to know is, is there a difference in taste and colour? (sockeye salmon is very red...)

Salmon and Trout are from the same family (Salmonidae) and "trout-salmon" is common here in Japan. See the thread fish names

It turns out the Scots use the term "Salmon Trout" so it not Japanese-EngRish at all. The official Japanese name in English is "Salmon-trout sujiko".

Pic via the thread Samout or Troumon?

[Taro Toporific]

"trout-salmon" ... is there a difference in taste and colour? (sockeye salmon is very red...)

I ate a bunch of both types of salmon last weekend in Shikoku. Yes, the color of trout-salmon is lighter than sockeye salmon but the taste is more a factor of whether the salmon came from a fish farm or not. Native non-farmed fish have less flab and fish feed taste (often soy-based, YUCK). It's getting to be a real problem here in Japan, to get the real thing. I would not worry about customers rejecting "Salmon-trout sujiko".

Hell, good quality the "Salmon-trout sujiko" is better than COLORED with dye fake Salmon which makes up 40-60% of the so-called "Salmon" eaten here in Japan.

[Skankster]

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everybody knows the color is fake

[katakori]

welcome, bluegirl.

this must be a good question.

have a look at this previous post

[Taro Toporific]

-...everybody knows the color is fake

Hey the NY Times just "discovered" it would be a good idea to put your "trout-salmon" next to your car tailpipe to improve the color.

Tuna's Red Glare? It Could Be Carbon Monoxide
11PM 6 Oct / NYTimes.com (no registration required)It has become increasingly likely that the tuna you are buying is bright red because it has been sprayed with carbon monoxide.
.....Tuna quickly turns an unappetizing brown (or chocolate, as it is called in the industry), whether it is fresh or conventionally frozen and thawed.
Carbon monoxide, a gas that is also a component of wood smoke, prevents the flesh from discoloring. It can even turn chocolate tuna red, according to some who have seen the process....
...Tuna quickly turns an unappetizing brown (or chocolate, as it is called in the industry), whether it is fresh or conventionally frozen and thawed.
Carbon monoxide, a gas that is also a component of wood smoke, prevents the flesh from discoloring. It can even turn chocolate tuna red, according to some who have seen the process....

[dimwit]

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everybody knows the color is fake

According to one of my students who who runs a meat processing plant food coloring is not unheard of especially amongst some of the more disreputable meat processing companies in Japan, but I have not heard of fish coloring.
But given the trend to cover ups in agricultural products I am not amazed by the article.

[Ptyx]

Salmon is often colored using astaxanthine.
How salmon get its color

[Mulboyne]

UK Daily Telegraph link. Registration May be required: Savvy shopper: Salmon

Chief among the controversies surrounding farmed salmon is the danger of ingesting cancer-causing chemicals. A report in Science in January 2004 sparked a continuing debate.

The article claimed that carcinogenic chemicals were so prevalent in Scottish salmon that consumers would be best advised to eat just one portion a week. Last week it was reported that Malachite Green, a banned toxic chemical, was found in salmon from a Morrisons supermarket.

There are plenty of other salmon troubles: the wild population is falling; fish farms are polluting the west coast of Scotland; many species of wild fish are being exploited to feed the farmed. Then there is the giant American GM salmon, which could be licensed for sale in EU countries.

[canman]

Last night I was watching CNN and they also had a report on the trend to use carbon monxcide to help with the color of tuna in the states, and how it can be unhealthy. Not a big surprise, but what I would like to know is who came up with the idea. Was some guy trying to kill himslf, using CM while eating some sushi and noticed the color change, decided to pull the hose out of the car and patent the idea?

[Charles]

Hell, good quality the "Salmon-trout sujiko" is better than COLORED with dye fake Salmon which makes up 40-60% of the so-called "Salmon" eaten here in Japan.

The most horrifying photo I've seen in a long time was something I saw in AdBusters. Picture in your mind what a Pantone color guide, you know those little book of strips of gradated colors, pinned together with a big bolt. Ok, now picture it spread out a bit so you can pick out the colors.. except all these shades are relatively monochromatic, it ranges from pale to dark salmon colors. The color guide is supposed to tell you how much dye to add to the feed to get the desired color in farmed Salmon flesh.