Kosher Sushi at Walgreens on Biscayne in Miami?

Jacob Katel

Certified Kosher Sushi

Walgreens on Biscayne and 31st stocks Kosher Sushi made locally by Sushi Mann Express. But what makes sushi kosher? Short Order set out to investigate.

Sushi is famous for its raw fish. Jewish biblical law states that only certain fish are fit for consumption, but unlike meat, their blood is viewed as clean.

Rabbi Sholom Blank of Congregation Lubavitch Russian Immigration Center on Miami Beach is listed on a beachside rabbi directory on the internet called
Kosher Delight. He picked up the phone toward 8 p.m. on Wednesday and explained that the mashgiach, a sort of food inspector rabbi, looks at the fish "and as long as it has the fins and scales, it has God's law that it's kosher."

Mexican Roll Contains Tilapia

Fish must also be "prepared with kosher instruments: a kosher knife, cutting board, pots and pans, and anything that goes through cooking." Blank said that the kosherity of the instruments are determined by their use solely on kosher foods.

But you don't have to be a rabbi to catch or butcher the fish. Asked whether a Catholic can cut the fish as long as the rabbi is watching, Blank responded, "Yes."

Seaweed, a major component of sushi, requires extra fortitude to classify as kosher. It may contain seahorses, mini shrimp, or insects. It must be inspected and determined to be free of treife, unclean foods.

Rabbi Blank was lost for an answer on how they find a particle of processed seahorse on a sheet of nori, but then he's not a hechsher.