Oh no! A few minutes after placing teriyaki sauce on raw fish, our questioner noticed it was not certified kosher. He immediately washed off the sauce and contacted Rav Mendel Senderovic to see if the fish was still permitted. Rav Senderovic presents his answer in Teshuvot Atzei Besamim Y.D. 7.

Step One—Wash It Off

At first glance, the fish was allowed since the sauce and fish were cold. The Shulchan Aruch (Y.D. 105:1) rules that if cold non-kosher food contacts kosher food for less than twenty-four hours, it need only be washed off (after twenty-four hours, it becomes kavush, pickled, and absorbed). Thus, since the sauce was washed off after only a few minutes on the fish, the problem seems to be solved.

I heard Rav Yosef Adler report that he asked Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik zt” labout ice cream that leaked on a steak in a freezer during the blackout of the summer of 1977 in New York City. In keeping with the aforementioned Shulchan Aruch, Rav Soloveitchik instructed Rav Adler to wash off the steak, which remained permissible to eat.

Step Two—Cold Items With Crevices

However, Rav Senderovic notes the Shach (Y.D. 91:21), who cites many Rishonim who are strict if the absorbing item has crevices, even if it is raw. The crevices allow the non-kosher food to be absorbed into the food. Rav Senderovic notes that the Gemara (Chullim 112b) regards fish as having crevices.

The Chochmat Adam (Sha’ar Issur V’Heteir 42:6) prefers careful individuals to be strict about this matter for themselves. In addition, the Darkei Teshuva (91:86, citing the Yad Yehuda) rules strictly for all, if the raw food has crevices and is tangy (as is teriyaki sauce). Thus, the fish seems forbidden, unlike the earlier-mentioned ice cream, which leaked on a steak, which is not tangy and for which it is sufficient to wash it off.

Step Three—Nullification Of the Non-Kosher Wine

However, Rav Senderovic raises a possible leniency. He notes that the only obviously non-kosher ingredient in the teriyaki sauce is wine and that the Shulchan Aruch (Y.D. 134:5) rules that wine is nullified by one in six parts. Thus, the teriyaki sauce might be kosher since the non-kosher wine is nullified one in six parts.

Rav Senderovic, though, notes that although the Taz (Y.D. 114:4) applies the one-in-six nullification principle to wine in any liquid, the Shach (ad. loc., in the Nekudat HaKesef) limits the rule to where wine is mixed in water. However, if the wine is blended with other liquids, it requires sixty parts to nullify it. Thus, according to the Shach, the non-kosher wine in the teriyaki sauce is not bateil (nullified).

However, Rav Senderovic marshals Rav Moshe Feinstein zt”l (Teshuvot Igrot Moshe Y.D. 1:62), who follows the Taz. In addition, Rav Moshe argues that even the Shach agrees that wine is nullified in sharp-tasting liquid (such as teriyaki sauce). Thus, according to Rav Moshe, the non-kosher wine in the teriyaki sauce might be nullified.

Step Four: The Big Unknown—Uncertified Food

Ultimately, Rav Senderovic is strict since the teriyaki sauce is not rabbinically certified. Thus, although non-kosher wine is the only obvious non-kosher item mentioned on the ingredient list, other items may also be non-kosher. For example, the sauce may have been made on non-kosher equipment, rendering the entire sauce non-kosher. Flavorings are often not kosher and do not necessarily appear on the ingredient list. Finally, ingredients less than two percent of the product are not required to be listed. Such items are not nullified in sixty (1.667%; less than two percent) and render the product non-kosher.

Uncertified food is one big unknown; one may not determine its Halachic status simply by examining the ingredient list. Thus, we may not assume that the other ingredients in the teriyaki sauce are kosher. The wine component of teriyaki sauce is not nullified.

Conclusion

Bottom line, Rav Senderovic forbade the fish despite the non-kosher sauce being thoroughly washed off very soon after it was poured on the fish. What appears to us as easily resolved as permissible may surprise us, upon expert consultation, to be forbidden (and vice versa). Therefore, in such situations, the only option is to consult his rabbi for a proper Halachic assessment.

Rabbi Jachter serves as the rav of Congregation Shaarei Orah, rebbe at Torah Academy of Bergen County, and a get administrator with the Beth Din of Elizabeth. Rabbi Jachter’s 17 books may be purchased at Amazon and Judaica House.