Eating Sushi, A Japanese Etiquette

Bento filled with rice balls or rice stuffed with sushi and sashimi.

WHAT IS SUSHI - Sushi is the most famous Japanese dish outside of Japan, and one of the most popular dishes among the Japanese. Sushi is not just a food, it is a symbol of Japanese culture and identity. Sushi restaurants are often viewed as cultural institutions, and sushi chefs are revered for their knowledge and skill.

Many people believed that sushi is eating raw fish. While the dish is associated with raw fish, there is much more to the story. Sushi is the combination of the words “su” and “meshi”. In English this means vinegar and rice. Sushi refers to the slightly sweet, vinegared rice, sometimes called shari, paired with a garnish—or neta—of seafood, egg or vegetables either raw or cooked.

ARRIVING AND BEING SEATED IN A SUSHI RESTAURANT IN JAPAN

It is polite in any restaurant to greet the host or hostess, who may greet you with the traditional “irasshaimase” which means “please come in.” You just need to acknowledge their greeting and are not required to say anything back, other than to answer the questions about your evening (seating, etc.).

No response is required, particularly from a foreigner, but a nod of the head is a nice acknowledgment, and you can even say "domo", which is a "thank you" catch-all. The most important thing to remember is that you are there to enjoy a meal. If you are polite, considerate and enjoy the experience, you will have a great time and no one will be offended.

If you are interested in watching your food preparation, ask to be seated at the bar where you can watch the sushi chef prepare your food or in making conversation with the itamae. . Feel free to greet the “itamae” (sushi chef) even if you don’t eat at the bar.

HERES HOW TO EAT SUSHI THE RIGHT WAY :

Clean your hands. Whether or not you plan on eating sushi with your hands, make sure you wash or wipe them before your meal. You'll usually be given a warm towel, called an o-shibori, to wash your hands with before eating. You can also wash your hands before eating if the restaurant doesn't provide a towel. Use the oshibori to wash your hands and try to fold it back neatly the way it was offered to you.

Eat with your fingers. Sushi originated as a finger food, so it's acceptable to eat it with your hands. You can use chopsticks for sashimi, which is sliced raw fish, but not for nigiri or maki rolls.  Only sashimi you never eat with your hands. Don't stick food with your chopsticks. Accept the challenge and grab food instead.

You should never spear your sushi with the chopsticks, and you should avoid pinching too hard because the sushi roll will fall apart.

Chopsticks for Sushi—Yes or No? Use chopsticks, if necessary. There will usually be a set of chopsticks at your place setting. Japanese generally prefer disposable round hardwood chopsticks. The chopsticks should be removed from the paper sleeve and gently pulled apart.

While it has become a commonplace to rub the chopsticks together to “get the splinters off,” this is considered impolite and should be avoided. Do not rub the chopsticks. It's rude to rub disposable sticks together. It implies the restaurant gave you cheap chopsticks.

When not in use, chopsticks should be placed parallel to yourself on a chopstick stand (if there is one) or on the soy sauce dish or a small plate which may also be given to you. The chopstick tips should not touch the table.

Don't point with chopsticks: Never point at someone with your chopsticks. It is considered rude.

At the table setting, chopsticks should be placed above the plate, parallel to the table, with tips to the left

When you're done eating, chopsticks should rest on a chopstick rest or on the table, parallel to each other. You should avoid leaving them standing upright in a bowl or on top of your bowl.

Placing chopsticks like a "bridge" on a plate, bowl or other tableware is called "watashi bashi" and is considered a bad etiquette. Simply use the chopstick rest (hashi-oki) provided. If you are in a fancy restaurant or formal setting you should definitely not rest them across your bowl .

Eat one piece at a time. Cutting sushi in half is considered impolite.  Allow your tongue to take in the complex flavors before gulping down the bite. Ideally, you'll be able to eat the entire piece in one bite. Sashimi, nigiri sushi, and maki rolls should be consumed in one bite if possible

Use soy sauce sparingly. Dab the fish in the soy sauce, not the rice. Over-dipping can make the rice the main flavor.  Traditionally, only the fish (and not the rice) is dipped in the soy sauce using your fingers. In sushi restaurants only, it is okay to use fingers. The idea is to prevent the rice from absorbing large amounts of soy sauce, which will drown the flavor of the fish and cause the rice on the nigiri to fall apart and otherwise become difficult to eat. On the other hand, it takes some fairly advanced chopsticks skills to flip the sushi over, dip it fish side down, and make it back to your mouth. As a general rule, eat the sushi in one or two bites.

Use minimal wasabi. Don't mix wasabi and soy sauce. Wasabi is a strong flavored root that is ground into a light green paste and served with sushi. It has an interesting, complimentary flavor and can help cut and balance the “fishy” flavor associated with stronger, oily fish.

Don’t put the wasabi directly into your soy sauce. It is poor etiquette to put wasabi into your soy sauce. pour the soy sauce into the soy sauce dish and place some wasabi in the corner of the dish so that it’s on the edge of the soy dish and not stirred into the soy sauce. Using your chopsticks, swirl the wasabi around in a small area. This is so you can choose to use more or less wasabi as you see fit. Wasabi can be added directly to the top of the sushi before dipping the piece into the soy sauce as well.

Use ginger as a palate cleanser. Gari, a pickled ginger served with sushi, is meant to cleanse your palate between various servings, particularly if the fish is strong or oily. Eat ginger between bites or different types of sushi. It is not meant to be eaten in the same bite as a piece of sushi, and shouldn’t be eaten as an appetizer. If you finish the initial portion served with your plate, it is okay to ask for more.

Sushi  is commonly prepared with seafood, such as squid, eel, yellowtail, salmon, tuna or imitation crab meat.  It is often served with pickled ginger (gari), wasabi, and soy sauce.

Don't pass food between chopsticks: Never pass food from one set of chopsticks to another.  Don't use your personal chopsticks to get food from the serving dish. Use serving chopsticks instead.

In Japan, not finishing your meal is not considered impolite. In fact, it's a signal to the host that you want another serving. Belching is considered impolite.

Drinking. Traditionally, , one doesn’t drink sake with sushi or rice in general. The Japanese drinks sake only with sashimi or before or after a meal. It is felt that they are both rice-based so sake tend to conflict with the flavors of the sushi rice.

Nowadays, coupling sake with sushi and sashimi is no longer a taboo but rather an enjoyable way to enhance the flavor profiles of the fish and seafood. Beer is a great informal drink to have alongside sushi.

Toasting other people in your party, and, occasionally, the sushi chef, is common as well. The traditional toast is with an enthusiastic kanpai! which means "cheers" in Japanese. It's used when drinking in group settings or at meal times.

BASIC STYLES OF SUSHI

Nigiri Sushi - sushi that comes with wasabi placed under the piece of fish, or some other seafood, on top of seasoned rice. The rice is a special, short-grained rice seasoned with sweet rice vinegar and salt. Eat nigiri style sushi in just one bite.

Nigiri is prepared by creating an oval shape ball of seasoned sushi rice, and topping it with a slice of raw fish (or another topping).

Sashimi - means a simple piece of cut, uncooked fish. It is generally the highest quality, and most expensive portion, of the fish available.

Sashimi is a very delicate and subtle-tasting dish, as it is made with raw fish or seafood that has not been cooked and known for its fresh, rich flavors and simple yet profound taste. 

Maki refers to “rolled” sushi rice. The rice is rolled in a sheet of dry seaweed, called “nori.”

Maki is a type of sushi that is made by rolling the rice around strips of vegetables or raw fish and then slicing the resulting tube into bite-sized pieces.

Maki - These bite-sized rolls have seaweed on the outside and rice (and other ingredients) on the inside.

Vegetarian Sushi - Vegetables have always been an important component of sushi, and many traditional varieties are mostly or completely vegetarian. From kappa maki (cucumber roll) to sophisticated nigiri ensembles, itamaes create interesting and delicious vegetarian sushi. If you’re a vegetarian, join your fish-eating friends and just let the itamae know about what you like. Most itamaes will go out of their way to create custom vegetarian sushi to suit your tastes and needs.