Preparing sushi is an art, and tasting these delicious pieces becomes a delicious ritual. You can eat your sushi however you feel most comfortable. However, there are some techniques and tips that, if followed, will greatly improve your experience with this Japanese dish.
The chefs at the Japanese home delivery restaurant Telemaki have explained to us some of the mistakes that are usually made and how they can be corrected. If you want to follow sushi eating etiquette and fully enjoy visits to your favorite Japanese restaurant , these are some mistakes that you should try to avoid at all costs.
Do not soak rice with soy
Sushi usually comes with a small bowl of soy sauce, with which nigiris, makis and other types of preparations are dipped. However, Telemaki experts warn: you should not soak rice in soy . This would dull the flavor of the fish, the true protagonist in Japanese sushi dishes.
The correct way would be, in the case of a maki, to pick it up with chopsticks and carefully wet only the bottom part. “People bathe it in soy and the correct thing would be only the bottom part,” one of Telemaki’s cooks tells 20minutos .
Don’t go overboard with the wasabi
Within the community of sushi lovers there is a diversity of opinions. There are those who mix wasabi with soy and also those who put it on fish. Telemaki warns us that this is a sauce with a fairly strong flavor , made with radish, so, in order not to overshadow the flavor of the sushi, it is advisable to only apply a small amount of wasabi to the fish . It is advisable, the restaurant comments, not to mix the wasabi in the soy sauce to form a fusion, but to always add these condiments separately.
Do not separate the rice from the salmon or eat it in pieces
It is important to eat sushi in one piece and never separate the fish from the rice. “If you break it up or separate it into pieces, you don’t take advantage of the flavor of everything it contains” , they comment from Telemaki. Sushi is designed to be eaten in one bite and enjoy all the flavors together. Separating the fish would cause the piece to lose its shape, a sin in the world of Japanese gastronomy.
Do not puncture or cut your piece of sushi
Handling the classic chopsticks is something that, for many of us, is complicated. Ohashi , narrow, pointed sticks that are usually made of wood, are the ideal tool for eating sushi. But, if you don’t know how to use them, there are some aspects that you have to take into account.
Never prick sushi with chopsticks or use a knife to cut your pieces in two, as this will cause your piece to fall apart and make it even more difficult to eat. In addition, from Telemaki they warn that metal alters the taste of sushi, so wooden chopsticks will be the best option. If you are not handy with chopsticks, it is allowed to eat it with your hands.
Never combine ginger with sushi
Each piece of sushi has different flavors that must be savored correctly. That’s why when we order a sushi board, it usually comes with some ginger strips . This ginger is not to be combined with sushi, but to take a little when you are about to change to another piece with different flavors.
“It serves to differentiate the flavors of fish , for example between salmon and tuna. Between one and the other you have to eat a piece of ginger to wash away the flavor of the salmon and be able to taste the tuna,” they say from the restaurant. If you top your piece of sushi with a piece of ginger, its strong flavor will eat into the rest of the ingredients and destroy the bite.