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Completely Farm-Bred Unagi, a World First
JoshuaInNippon writes "Japanese scientists at the National Research Institute of Aquaculture, Fisheries Research Agency have reported that they successfully completed an artificial cultivation cycle for unagi, or eel — a world first. Unagi is a traditional delicacy in Japan, and can commonly be found in baked form at sushi restaurants. The fish has long been caught either matured, or still young and then fattened on farms. Sadly, as a result, natural stocks of unagi have plummeted in recent years. However, the research news indicates a future method to completely farm breed the tasty creature in mass quantity. Good news for sushi lovers, Japanese businesses, and wild eel alike."
Good news for sushi-lovers, Japanese businesses, and wild eel alike.
In the US Pacific Northwest, it has been found that farm raising salmon significantly hurt the wild populations.
Some of those farmed fish can escape affect the gene pool!
Ah, salmon skin roll!
Shhh.. you're not supposed to make "Friends" references on /. (unless it's to say how lame the show was.) Someone might ask you to turn in your Geek card.
That was probably the slime eel/hagfish episode.
Salmon farm fishing is a disaster. Shrimp are not much better. I don't know how the tilapia production is fairing. Tilapia are not predators like salmon, so I imagine it might be better, but I have no idea.
Answer: stop eating fish. Sorry.
Shoes for Industry. Shoes for the Dead.
Shhh.. you're not supposed to make "Friends" references on /. (unless it's to say how lame the show was.) Someone might ask you to turn in your Geek card.
You and I both have SlashID's in the low five digits. We can pretty much get away with anything without losing geek cred.
"Tell me doctor, with all of your defenses, are there any provisions for an attack by killer bees?"
What's this we shit? You got a mouse in your pocket?
I've been to Scotland - I took one look at haggis and I suddenly didn't feel so international anymore.
We can pretty much get away with anything without losing geek cred.
Jacob or Edward?
And why?
/me ducks
Answer: stop eating fish. Sorry.
Partly, but not completely. I highly recommend the book "Bottomfeeder" that covers this topic quite well:
http://www.tarasgrescoe.com/excerpt.html
The author recommends the following kinds if you want to eat sustainably:
There are also many ones that he recommends with provisos (e.g., shrimp, when farmed, are often treated with chemicals and shrimp farms are seriously messing many of the world's poorest countries (e.g., Thailand); farmed shrimp from Mexico though are actually one of the most responsibly produced).
In general though a lot of the fish stocks are close to collapse in many parts of the world.
Highly recommend you check out the book, and at only ~300 pages, it's quick, informative read.
Funny you mention that.
Unagi is horribly expensive ($18/US per package) if you want the Japanese-sourced unagi. The Chinese unagi is much cheaper ($4-5/US per package), but there have been problems with the chemicals, antibiotics, and other crap they feed them.
Anago is readily available here in Los Angeles at a moderate price, but unagi kabayaki is definitely where its at.
I tried every decent and legal way I could think of to resolve the issue w/the business before I rented the chicken suit
For what its worth, Eel consumption is also rather common in any area of Europe where Eel happens to be found, its not at all some "crazy" unique Japanese thing.
What's worse? Making the Friends reference? Or being the one other guy (apparently) who recognizes that it's a Friends reference?
Comment of the year
Unagi is a key ingredient in Unagi Pai, which I think is the yummiest cookie made with ground-up eel bones in the whole world. :)
Village idiot in some extremely smart villages.
So is *this* finally an example of something the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture is in charge of? Because I know we ruled out their authority with respect to Gundum.
Information theory is life. The rest is just the KL divergence.
There is nothing in Haggis that can't be found in a Big Mac.
A better argument for not eating McDonald's fast food I've never heard. :-)
"Bah!" - Dogbert
> Just don't think about what it's made of and you'll be fine.
I dunno, just looking at the haggis recipe makes me want to try it - looks tasty to me...
I suspect that in my country (Malaysia), they often have to import MSM and similar stuff to make nuggets, sausages etc - because over here stuff like liver, gizzards, lungs, stomach etc can just be packed just the way beef cuts and chicken wings are, and sold at supermarkets. People actually buy that stuff "as is". No need for disguise...
A fair number of people here know the difference in taste and textures of cooked liver, heart, lungs, pancreas, stomach (apparently there are different "kitchen" names for the different stomachs too ) etc.
Actually I should clarify, because I wasn't being quite honest or accurate in my previous post. The invasive species in the South East U.S. is a different species than the eels in question in the article. The pest fish that escaped the farms is the Asian Swamp Eel. While it is often sold as "unagi" and is somewhat analogous in flavor, the specific eel in question is the Japanese Eel, which does not live in the Western Hemisphere. The Asian Swamp Eel is actually from a different taxonomic order.
The closest analog in the Western Hemisphere is the American Eel, which is also endangered, partly due to the invasion of the Asian Swamp Eel.
That said, the Asian Swamp Eel works perfectly fine in similar roles, and is quite tasty. Unfortunately you can't really call it "unagi" in a respectable Japanese fish market, even if it's called that when sold in many fish markets outside of Japan.