If you often cook fish at home, you're probably no stranger to bringing some big, deep red tuna steaks home. You remove them from the packaging and give them a good rinse in cold water before drying them with paper towels and, say, searing your tuna with olives and capers. You were likely taught to do this, with the idea that it's the best way to clean raw meat. In fact, washing tuna steaks (or any animal protein, really) prior to cooking is a terrible idea that does nothing in terms of removing harmful bacteria from the meat's surface. What actually kills the bacteria that causes food poisoning is cooking the food to a safe internal temperature.
What rinsing off raw meat will do -- and quite effectively, at that -- is spread any bacteria present all over your prep area. It can travel as far as a three-foot radius around your sink (which, if you wash dishes by hand, has pretty grim implications for any plates or utensils sitting in an adjoining rack).Cold water can't sanitize anything, but it's super-great at cross-contamination as it creates tiny droplets that act as aerial bacteria taxis. It makes you wonder why anyone still washes meat before cooking it.
Back before commercial meat production, it was a good idea to clean blood, dirt, and various other nasty substances from raw, unprocessed meat. Clearly, this became a tradition that was passed down. Nowadays, not only has that process almost always already happened before we purchased the stuff (provided you're getting meat or fish from a store or butcher), the act of washing raw meat can increase the risk of bacterial infection. However, in some cultures, the cleansing of meat is far more ancient than what our ancestors were doing one or two hundred years ago.
In the Jewish tradition, it is necessary to remove as much blood as possible from animal flesh. There are strict rules for slaughterhouses to follow in order to produce what is known as kosher meat -- and even then, a final act known as kashering is required, in which the meat is rinsed with cold water and coated in coarse salt.This process often, but not always, occurs in the slaughterhouse, because there must be no visible blood on any food considered kosher. If you are kashering your meat at home, make sure your prep area is thoroughly cleaned and sanitized afterward.
Follow Cooking Temperature Guidelines Or Assume The Consequent Risks
So, unless you're following a religious tradition, skip washing red meat, poultry, and fish -- and while you're at it, don't bother "sanitizing" them in a salt water or vinegar solution, as that won't cut it either. Instead, cook the food according to the USDA's safe minimum internal temperature suggestions, which for tuna is an internal temperature of 145 degrees Fahrenheit. Of course, people can (and often do) eat raw, sushi-grade tuna or turn it into a tartare with an acid like lemon or lime juice and other ingredients. Just bear in mind that with other kinds of tuna, salmonella is not your only concern.
According to Healthline, tuna fish are often infected with several different kinds of parasites which can cause all kinds of gastrointestinal issues for the unwary consumer. Properly cooking the fish will kill these parasites off; however, if you're really into making tuna tartare, freezing it thoroughly should also do the job.(Any fish labeled sushi-grade has already been frozen for just this purpose.)So, please make that herb-crusted ahi tuna; just make sure you know where it came from, and for goodness' sake, skip the rinse.
To maintain your tuna steak's integrity, take a tip from the professionals, and skip the rinse. When you're ready to cook, just pat the steak dry with paper towels.
Tuna steak is known for its beefy meatiness, but its flesh is actually quite delicate. Washing tuna with tap water can affect its color and ruin its texture.
The experts at Rutgers University suggest rinsing canned products, including tuna, beans, and veggies. This practice helps reduce their sodium content, which may benefit people with high blood pressure or heart disease. Alternatively, you can opt for low-sodium canned tuna, but it's not widely available in stores.
You remove them from the packaging and give them a good rinse in cold water before drying them with paper towels and, say, searing your tuna with olives and capers.
If you rinse a saltwater fish fillet ( like this tuna ) in freshwater, it's bad news. The fillet will absorb the water, compromising the taste and texture. To fix this, add some salt to ice cold water and use that salty mixture to rinse off the slime and debris.
Pan-sear: Searing is the classic method for quickly cooking the outside of tuna while leaving the inside raw. Try coating in a crust of sesame, freshly ground black pepper, coriander, or other spices. Sear tuna in a well-seasoned cast-iron skillet or nonstick pan over medium-high heat, about 1 to 2 minutes per side.
Abstract. The sodium content of water-rinsed canned green beans, tuna, and cottage cheese was analyzed. A 3-minute rinse of tuna and cottage cheese resulted in sodium reductions of 80% and 63%, respectively, with no significant effect on iron content.
Large fish, such as tuna, can have mercury concentrations in their bodies that are significantly higher than those of their surrounding habitat. However, tuna is still safe to eat in certain amounts. This article explains how much to eat without affecting health and clarifies the risks of consuming too much.
Here are the basic steps to the process, or you can jump right to the recipe to get started! Allow the tuna to come to room temperature first! This is important: otherwise, the inside is still cold when the exterior is cooked! Allow it to sit at room temperature for at least 20 minutes prior to cooking.
Just like a beef steak, tuna steak can be served from extremely rare to well done. Consider cooking times depending on how you prefer your tuna to be served. The centre of the steak should still be pink – be careful not to overcook it or the fish will be dry.
In dishes where you aim for a fresh, clean taste, like in salads or light pasta dishes, rinsing tuna can help achieve the desired flaky texture and light flavor profile. It removes the oil or brine that might otherwise weigh down the dish or clash with delicate dressings and ingredients.
USDA research has found that washing or rinsing meat or poultry increases the risk for cross-contamination in the kitchen, which can cause foodborne illness. From a food safety perspective, washing raw poultry, beef, pork, lamb or veal before cooking it is not recommended as the safest method.
Just like a beef steak, tuna steak can be served from extremely rare to well done. An easy seared recipe is to brush each side with oil and season well – when they're seared on both sides you're done.
Introduction: My name is Jonah Leffler, I am a determined, faithful, outstanding, inexpensive, cheerful, determined, smiling person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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