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Did you know that you’ve probably been eating sushi wrong this whole time? Check out the video below from a pro sushi chef to see how you should be doing it if you want to be a real sushi gourmet.
In the video, Naomichi Yasuda, owner of Manhattan’s Sushi Yasuda and Sushi Bar Yasuda in Tokyo, teaches us how to eat sushi properly.
For a pro like Yasuda, absolutely everything must be perfect down to the tiniest detail. Interestingly, he begins by saying that rice, not the fish, is the most important thing about sushi. After that everything from the topping to the seaweed, condiments, and even the temperature must be carefully chosen and balanced to make the perfect sushi. And of course the way you eat your sushi is also paramount when it comes to properly savoring it. Below are a few of the common mistakes that foreigners, and even some Japanese people, make when eating sushi.
Chopsticks: Did you know that you’re actually supposed to eat sushi rolls with your fingers?
Wasabi: Real wasabi is a native Japanese vegetable. However, most wasabi sold outside of Japan is actually a mixture of horseradish, mustard, starch, and green food colouring, which is a poor substitute.
Ginger: The ginger is there as a palate cleanser. Don’t put soy sauce on it, and never ever eat it in the same mouthful as your sushi.
Soy sauce: Foreigners love dousing their sushi in soy sauce, but you’re only supposed to use a smidgen on just one side of your sushi, but even then it’s not essential. If it’s roll sushi ("makizushi"), then gently dip one end into your soy sauce. If it’s blocks of rice with a topping ("nigirizushi"), then use your chopsticks to pick the sushi up on its side so that you can easily turn it and dip the fish side lightly into the sauce. Remember, don’t ever shake it.
Source: Next Shark, YouTube – Munchies
Read more stories from RocketNews24. -- How to Behave at a Sushi Restaurant: Tips from Japanese Etiquette Guides -- How to eat sushi like a sensei -- What to do when you need to find a good sushi restaurant – hire a Sushi Taxi, and get some sightseeing done at the same time
© RocketNews24
20 Comments
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CanadianINtokyo
First there was the Soup Nazi now welcome Sushi Nazi...no more Sushi for you!!!
Fox Sora Winters
Such strict rules for eating food. What does it matter? It still comes out the same colour in the end. Sushi doesn't sound like my scene though. Seaweed? Ginger? Soy Sauce? No thank you.
Frungy
Pick up sushi. Put in mouth. Chew. Enjoy.
... I think I'm doing it right.
Jgirl in CND
He's a very mild sushi nazi. There are tons of super sushi nazis in japan. NEXT!!
Arimura
This is more complete: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0b75cl4-qRE#t=184
CanadianINtokyo
Jgirl in CND eh,lol
Himajin
Kameizumi from Kochi is good with sushi too, zichi.
Himajin
Arimura, I'm putting up the full 8-minute version-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDL8yu34fz0
It's a hoot.
zichi, it's dry (I don't like sweet sake). Kiraku in Kitanocho was where I first had it.
drinron
All Sushi are so mouth-watering! It enjoys to eat them.
philly1
Ha ha! Love that shaking line he slipped in there. Very funny.
Alas, if only there were a rule about slurping noodles. That's still something I can't get used to. My J friends urge me to slurp, but I can't. I explain that it's cultural--just as hard for me as it would be for them to consider wearing shoes in the house.
BertieWooster
Is that a metric smidgen or imperial?
GalapagosnoGairaishu
A good proportion of the "Chinese" restaurants in the US now feature sushi bars. Generic Asian seems to be the fashion, and nobody really attempts to differentiate one type of cuisine from the other. I find this horrifying.
slowguy2
Don't give me that -- food is food, the best way to eat it is the way that gives you the greatest enjoyment. Nobody cares how you eat a chili cheese burger -- why should sushi be any different? It's RAW FISH, for god's sake. This is just pinky-raising pretentiousness and busybodies trying to control your life. Next you'll be telling us how exactly to use your fingers to pick up the sushi -- along the lines of: "Excessive cleansing of the fingers is undesirable, as it will tend to deprive the digits of their natural lubrication, which is a factor in the tactile experience of the sensual fish-flesh."
Tokiyo
so if you attended a state dinner for any dignitary anywhere in the world, you would scarf down your food any which way you like? Plus, it was just a demonstration, why get so worked up about it?
philly1
There are times when casual manners are appropriate, and there are times when formal manners are necessary. A truly cultured person knows where those boundaries are and can move across them with ease. A cheeseburger will never be formal. Sometimes sushi might be formal and other times casual. It's not that difficult to recognize the difference unless a person is incredibly unaware of or utterly indifferent to social nuances in Japan.
borax
Another day, another "foreign people eat sushi wrong!!!" article. But look around at the Japanese customers in your local sushi joint and tell me how many of them are eating it "wrong" according to this article...from my experience, it's most of them. These are guidelines, not rules. Eat sushi in the way that makes you happiest.
P.S. most wasabi sold INSIDE of Japan, at grocery stores, is actually a mixture of horseradish, mustard, starch, and green food colouring, which is a poor substitute.
BertieWooster
I really recommend Itami Juzo's "Tampopo."
An excellent movie, it shows you the "correct way" to eat ramen.