

Foodborne illnesses like listeria won’t provide any signs that the food is off, you’ll just get sick. If you’ve left sushi out of the fridge longer than two hours then toss it in the bin to avoid unwanted stomach bugs or worse. Keep in mind that although we don't recommend freezing sushi rice, it is okay to freeze cooked rice like basmati and jasmine. Label with the current date and store frozen for up to 3 months. If you must freeze it, allow the rice to cool, then transfer to ziplock bags and seal. Sushi rice is best eaten on the day it is cooked as it turns dry and crumbly once defrosted. Commonly asked questions Can you freeze sushi rice? Check out our handy guide to reheating sushi.Īirtight containers keep oxygen and odors away from your food. However, once it's thawed, you can help to bring the sushi back to life using heat. Hot spots can result in dry sections of inedible sushi. Within 30 minutes the sushi should be ready to eat.Īlthough some people suggest defrosting in the microwave, we recommend against it. Defrosting them on the benchtop is quicker, but they may also thaw unevenly, increasing the chance of bacteria growth.Īnother popular method of thawing sushi is to place it in a ziplock bag and submerge in a bowl of warm water. The safest way to thaw sushi is to transfer them to the fridge and leave overnight. The texture won’t be great once defrosted. Try to avoid freezing sushi that’s smothered in condiments like mayonnaise, wasabi, or soy sauce.If you’ve got sushi that’s been out of the fridge for over 2 hours toss it out.Wrapping each sushi separately stops them from sticking together.Wrap sushi in small groups or individually before freezing. Sauces like mayonnaise didn’t have the same delicious, silky consistency once thawed. Other fillings used in sushi, like cucumber and avocado lost some of their color and texture. You could freeze it if you’re in a pinch, but it’s best to refrigerate if possible. Interestingly, we found that nori paper holds up better than expected. It turns dry and crumbly, the opposite of what you expect from fresh sushi rice. Sushi with rice: Any sushi that contains rice is not suitable for freezing. This backs up our findings that fish is still delicious after storing frozen. The FDA requires fish that is served raw to be frozen first to kill off unwanted parasites. Once thawed, the salmon and tuna maintained their color, texture, and flavor. Sashimi: The winner in this experiment was raw fish frozen on its own. The rice component of California rolls, maki rolls, inari, and nigiri was dry and unpleasant once defrosted, even when frozen for just a few days. Our testing found the quality of sashimi was excellent once thawed. The results helped us create this ultimate guide to sushi storage – we hope it answers all your questions.įrom a food safety view, it is safe to freeze sushi for up to 3 months. Instead of researching the answers online, we forked out the cash and bought a range of sushi, then froze it to get the real answers. This leads to the question if you’ve got leftovers, can you freeze sushi? Ordering the right amount of sushi can be a challenge, even for people who buy it often.
