Don't be intimidated. It may take seven years to become a sushi chef in Japan, and even just enjoying sushi is taken very seriously there, but any novice can learn the basic mechanics of eating sushi relatively easily.
First, sushi is catagorized by how it is prepared:
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Maki sushi: rolls of raw fish or vegetable and rice wrapped in seaweed and cut into bite-sized rounds |
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Nigiri sushi: sliced raw fish (or cooked shrimp, crab,or egg) that is pressed over a pad of rice |
Your table should already be set with a small bottle of soy sauce. (It may look like a tiny teapot.) The sushi will be served garnished with slices of pickled ginger and wasabi, a spicy, green condiment and pickled ginger. The ginger is intended to refresh the palate to better appreciate the delicate flavors of the fresh, raw fish.
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Pour a small amount of soy sauce in the small dish that should be provided.
- Mix in a
small amount of wasabi in the soy sauce, if you wish.
Purists would consider this bad form as some sushi already has
wasabi in it between the fish and the rice. Outside of Japan,
however, this is a common practice.
- Hold sushi
with either chopsticks or your fingers.
- Dip sushi
into the soy sauce.
- Nigiri
sushi should be dipped into the soy sauce fish side down. This keeps
the rice from getting too wet and falling apart. Depending on the
size of the piece it can be eaten one to three bites.
- Maki sushi should be dipped seaweed side down.
Sushi Bar Etiquette:
It can be a facsinating experience to sit at the sushi bar and watch
a skilled chef at his work. If there is a waitperson, it is not
considered appropriate to ask your sushi chef for drinks or any food
other than sushi or sashimi (slices of raw fish).
You
may ask the chef what he recommends. When
you are finished, ask the waitperson--not the chef--for
the check.
For those of you who consider yourselves sushi connoissuers, put your knowledge to the test with the "Know your Sushi" crossword puzzle.
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It is a common misconception that all sushi includes raw fish. There
are types of sushi that are made with cooked seafood or feature
vegetables or even cooked egg. (Newcomers to sushi may want to try
California maki, which features crab, avocado, and cucumber.) The
defining ingredient in sushi, though, is the rice. Sushi rice is
steamed then tossed in a dressing of rice vinegar, sugar, and salt,
while a chef's assistant fans the rice so it cools off quickly. This
gives it a glossy sheen and slightly sticky chewiness.