What is the meaning of Odori?
This time, I will explain in detail the term “Odori” used at sushi restaurants.
Holding a shrimp alive
“Odori” is a slang word used at sushi restaurants, and refers to a shrimp nigiri that is held alive. It is called this because the prawns move like they are dancing. It also seems to refer to all living sushi dumplings.
It may seem cruel because it twitches, but when you eat it, it has a subtle sweetness that is typical of shrimp and is delicious. Odori is a sushi sauce whose freshness is especially important.
At a sushi restaurant, roosters only go for prawns, but eating live seafood such as firefly squid and whitebait fish is also commonly called odori-eating.
Sushi chef’s commitment to freshness
Freshness is said to be the key to many of the ingredients used in sushi, such as “Odori”, which is made by squeezing live tiger prawns.
At many sushi restaurants, in order to deliver delicious sushi to customers, skilled sushi chefs purchase seasonal ingredients from the market every morning and serve them fresh at the restaurant.
The flavor of the ingredients changes depending on a variety of factors, such as how you use the knife, how long you chop the food, and how the heat is transferred from your hands. In order for customers to enjoy sushi in the best condition that brings out the natural flavor of the ingredients, sushi chefs quickly but carefully prepare the ingredients, allowing them to enjoy fresh and delicious sushi.
What is the etiquette for eating “Odori”?
As for etiquette when eating sushi, it doesn’t matter if you eat it with chopsticks or with your hands. Live tiger prawns may jump, so if you find it difficult to hold them with chopsticks, we recommend eating them with your hands.
When putting soy sauce on sushi, the correct way to eat it is to put it on the toppings, not the sushi rice. The main reasons for adding soy sauce to sushi are that “it gets too much soy sauce”, “the shari tends to fall apart with soy sauce”, and “sushi remains in the soy sauce dish and doesn’t look good”. Masu.
When eating with your hands as well as with chopsticks, it is easier to spread the soy sauce on the sushi by turning the sushi on its side and then picking it up. In Japanese food, not just sushi, gestures such as “biting” or “biting off” are considered bad manners. Therefore, the correct way to eat sushi is to always eat it in one bite.
Also, while it is good etiquette in Japanese cuisine to break large items such as tempura and simmered dishes with chopsticks before bringing them to your mouth, it is against etiquette to tear sushi into pieces.
If you can’t finish it all in one bite, ask for less sushi and try to eat as much as possible in one bite.
