Comments on: Swordfish = Worms!?

Question: Swordfish = Worms!?

greggish — Mon, 22 May 2006 18:54:54 -0800

Erm, I just ate raw swordfish. I mean, it was microwaved for a couple minutes. But mostly-- ceviche. Am I gonna die?

Cause after some frenzied googling, all i can find are these *very* creepy references to a single sentence in Kitchen Confidential. That and a bad John Travolta movie about computer viruses and things blowing up.

literally, I could go puke it up right now if i need to...

By: Miko

Miko — Mon, 22 May 2006 18:59:23 -0800

Not at all. There's nothing wrong with it (besides the bioaccumulated heavy metals you'd ingest even if it were cooked).

Those worms are large and easy to see, and they don't hurt you anyway. You've probably eaten a bunch without knowing it.

Rest easy! You're fine. Sashimi.

By: snortlebort

snortlebort — Mon, 22 May 2006 19:05:44 -0800

Phew.

(mmm...bioaccumulated heavy metals...)

By: tomble

tomble — Mon, 22 May 2006 19:24:39 -0800

Salt water fish is fine raw, as long as it is fresh. I regularly eat raw salmon I get from the fish shop.

If it has a good texture and a pleasant smell, I've always been fine about eating it. As Miko said, sashimi.

By: Saucy Intruder

Saucy Intruder — Mon, 22 May 2006 19:25:32 -0800

It's called kajiki.

Anything alive died within 10 seconds in the microwave.

By: SPrintF

SPrintF — Mon, 22 May 2006 19:34:31 -0800

Fresh water fish are far more likely than salt water fish to host parasites that are transmitable to humans (tapeworms, flukes... seriously bad stuff, hard to treat). Fresh water fish should always be cooked thoroughly.

By: Malor

Malor — Mon, 22 May 2006 19:46:03 -0800

I hate to tell you this, but yes, you're going to die.

Eating the swordfish, however, is very unlikely to be the proximate cause. We've probably evolved to eat cooked foods, and cooking is a good idea, but the occasional bit of unspoiled raw meat is unlikely to harm you.

By: substrate

substrate — Mon, 22 May 2006 19:49:53 -0800

You're ok. I've accidently eaten both fish and chicken raw and I'm still mostly alive.

By: advil

advil — Mon, 22 May 2006 20:52:43 -0800

I have no idea about salt v. freshwater, or microwaving, but it does seem that swordfish can have all sorts of parasites (search for parasites in that page).

By: Orb

Orb — Mon, 22 May 2006 21:06:26 -0800

Four 4-5 oz swordfish steaks will cook to doneness in a microwave in about two minutes. Are you sure it was as raw as you thought it was?

But no, as others have said, you will die ... eventually ... and probably from something other than slightly undercooked swordfish.

By: madman

madman — Tue, 23 May 2006 01:50:25 -0800

"Microwaved for two minutes" is no longer raw.

Depending on what power setting you used, you might have properly cooked fish. Easiest way is to examine the flesh of your microwaved fish: is it fully white and opaque? If so, it's done.

By: Dunwitty

Dunwitty — Wed, 24 May 2006 00:00:07 -0800

"We've probably evolved to eat cooked foods"

Really? How much evolution do you think has occurred during the last 200,000 years, compared to all that time were were just eating whatever we could get our hands on?

I'd say we're probably still optimized for eating uncooked food.