Sushi is one of the food cultures that Japan is proud of. However, there are actually many people who do not know the correct way to eat sushi and manners. From the order in which you order at the store to how to dip soy sauce, the world of sushi is deep. By learning the correct manners, such as how to eat with chopsticks and hands, you will be able to enjoy sushi even more deliciously. In order not to be embarrassed at a high-end restaurant without knowing how to eat correctly, we will introduce recommended sushi ingredients for each season and the correct manners of sushi.
Learn how to eat sushi and raise the dignity of adults
Sushi is now popular not only in Japan but also overseas. The number of foreign tourists who enjoy sushi using chopsticks well is increasing year by year, but in fact, even Japan people do not know how to eat sushi correctly. Depending on the order in which the ingredients are eaten and how the soy sauce is added, the taste of sushi will differ. In order to properly enjoy delicious sushi and not to be embarrassed at a sushi restaurant, let’s acquire correct knowledge about sushi and raise the dignity of adults.
Let’s learn the basic manners of how to eat sushi
Sushi is so familiar to Japan people that it is sold in supermarkets. There are many people who usually eat casually, but when they go to a high-class sushi restaurant, they don’t know how to eat it, they don’t know the order of ordering, but they are too embarrassed to ask people. I will introduce the basic manners of sushi that if you know this much, you will not be embarrassed at the restaurant, so let’s learn how to eat sushi correctly and enjoy sushi more.
Would you rather eat sushi with chopsticks or by hand?
Speaking of how to eat sushi, many people seem to be worried about whether to eat it with chopsticks or with their hands. In conclusion, it is basic to eat with your hands, but using chopsticks does not mean that it is a violation of manners. Originally, sushi was eaten with hands as a “snack” eaten while standing at a food stall, so it is said that sushi is basically eaten with your hands. However, sushi has also changed with the times. So, whether you eat with your hands or chopsticks, both are the right way to eat.
Also, sushi is often loosely gripped, as it is said that the air is softer between the rice grains of the sushi. If you hold it with your hands, you can hold it gently, but if you hold it with chopsticks, the shari will easily crumble, so it is better to eat it with your hands. However, there is no problem if you can eat cleanly with your hands or chopsticks. However, when eating garri, be sure to eat with chopsticks.
What order to order sushi?
Basically, if you order sushi in order from light to strong, you can eat the most delicious sushi. It is recommended to start with plain white fish such as Thai and flounder, then order shiny fish such as kohada and mackerel, vinegar-tightened ones, gradually red fish such as tuna and shellfish, strong flavors and fatty ones, clawed ones such as conger eel, and finally rolls such as kanpyo and iron fire.
Some Tsuu people order eggs and kohada first time to learn about Itamae’s skills at their first restaurant. It is said that the taste of egg is well understood, and the taste of Kohada tends to differ depending on Mr. Itamae’s skill. Also, asking for a scroll is considered a signal of the end. When served in a single plate, it is said that they are arranged in the order that the chef thinks is the most delicious, and it is better to eat them in order from the left (from the upper left in the case of two rows).
However, this order of eating is not the correct manners, but the recommended order to eat sushi deliciously, so you can eat it in the way you feel it is delicious. There is no problem if you order the same material in a row. However, when ordering something with a lighter taste after eating something with a strong taste, you can feel the taste of the material more properly if you freshen up your mouth with tea once before ordering.
Soy sauce is dipped in the toppings
When adding soy sauce to sushi, the correct way to eat it is to add soy sauce only to the toppings. If soy sauce gets on the shari, it will crumble easily. Gently flip the sushi to the side and sandwich both the topa and the sari, and eat with the ingredients down and a little soy sauce dipped on the tip. If you add too much soy sauce, the taste of soy sauce will become too strong and you will not be able to enjoy the taste of the ingredients themselves. Even if you like dark eyes, don’t add so much soy sauce that it will stick to your shri.
In the case of ingredients with a sauce called claws, such as sea eel, it is sufficiently flavored, so there is no need to add more soy sauce. Also, if you have a sauce other than anago, you don’t need soy sauce if you have a sauce made by adding sake and mirin to soy sauce from the beginning. Eggs are also flavored, so you don’t have to add soy sauce, but you can add them. Since it is a difference in taste, it is not a violation of manners.
When pouring soy sauce into a soy sauce dish, do not pour a large amount at once. Even if you plan to eat a lot of sushi from the beginning, don’t pour a lot of soy sauce first, but add a little more each time it runs out. It is correct manners that the soy sauce is gone when you finish eating sushi. Adding a little bit will prevent too much soy sauce from sticking to the sushi, and you can avoid filling up the soy sauce plate when you are full ahead of schedule.
Eat in one bite so that the material is pointing down
After dipping soy sauce in the material, put it in your mouth with the material down and put it on your tongue. Don’t bite off the sushi along the way, just eat it in one bite. It is bad manners to return the gnawed remnants to the plate. If you put the material in your mouth facing down, the material will hit your tongue first, so you can understand the flavor of the ingredients well, and the ingredients will fuse in your mouth to increase the deliciousness. If you are not confident that you can eat it in one bite, you can ask for “Shari smaller” first.
In the case of normal nigiri, the ingredients are turned down and soy sauce is dipped, but in the case of rolls such as warships, the ingredients will spill out, so you can’t turn the sushi over. In the case of a warship, if there is a cucumber on top, remove the cucumber once, dip the cucumber in soy sauce, and return it to the sushi before eating. In the case of kanpyo rolls, or if there are no cucumbers, you can dip soy sauce in the gari and dip it in the toppings.
In the case of using gari to dip soy sauce on the rolls, the flavor of the gari may be transferred to the material and the taste may change. If you want to avoid it, you can also eat it by dipping soy sauce directly on the roll. In this case as well, try to dip it in the seaweed on the side so that the soy sauce does not get on the shari as much as possible. Be careful not to let the soy sauce dipped in the nori drip easily.
Eat sushi early
Don’t leave the sushi served for too long, and try to eat it early. Most of the ingredients are raw, so freshness is vital. It’s good to eat while enjoying conversation and drinks, but you can’t get too carried away and make your sushi dry. The right way to eat sushi is to eat it while it’s fresh, and it’s also the most delicious way to enjoy it. Mr. Itamae will also serve it while watching the pace, so be sure to eat early.
Place the chopsticks on the chopstick rest
When placing chopsticks, place them properly on the chopstick rest. Be careful if you don’t have a chopstick rest. Never put chopsticks on a plate with geta or sushi on it. If it is a soy sauce dish or an empty plate, it will be fine. However, you only need to put the tip of the chopsticks on it. Putting the entire chopstick on it is one of the chopsticks that I dislike, which is called “passing chopsticks”, which means that I don’t need it anymore. It is a violation of basic manners not only for sushi but also for meals. Make a chopstick rest with a chopstick bag and place it.
Let’s know the meaning of gari
When it comes to sushi, gari is a must. Gari is ginger pickled in sweet vinegar and has the effect of refreshing the mouth. By eating gari between sushi and sushi, you can enjoy the taste of the next material without being disturbed by the taste of the previous material. Gari also has the effect of eliminating fishy odors and bactericidal effects. As a preventive measure when eating sushi with a lot of raw fish, gari has long been an indispensable thing. Please enjoy gari as an accompaniment to sushi.
What not to do in terms of how to eat sushi and manners
I have introduced the basics of how to eat sushi correctly, but I don’t think there was anything particularly difficult. Basically, as with general eating etiquette, you can enjoy sushi and eat it cleanly. However, there are some things that are okay for your regular meals, but should not be done when eating sushi. Some people may have done it without knowing that it was a violation of manners when eating sushi, so be aware of the following points.
Don’t separate neta and shari
There are surprisingly many people who do it when eating sushi with chopsticks, but it is a violation of manners to remove the material from the shari once, dip it in soy sauce, and put it on top of the shari when you put soy sauce on the material. It’s rude to separate what Mr. Itamae put out in the best condition. Don’t remove the ingredients from the sushi, take the sushi as it is and dip soy sauce only on the toppings.
Also, some people not only remove the material and add soy sauce, but also leave the shari, but please do not do it. The act of eating only ingredients at a sushi restaurant is called “catching up” and is something that should never be done. It is not beautiful to be left with only Shari lined up on the geta. If you want to cut back on carbs, ask for less shari or order sashimi.
Wasabi does not dissolve in soy sauce
Sushi is pre-smeared with wasabi between the shari and the toppings, but some people say that’s not enough. In that case, the correct way to eat wasabi is not to dissolve it in soy sauce, but to eat it with chopsticks on top of the toppings. The wasabi served at sushi restaurants is different from wasabi for home use, it is freshly ground and has a very good aroma. If you dissolve it in soy sauce, the aroma will be lost. In order not to spoil the deliciousness of the material, do not dissolve wasabi in soy sauce.
Wasabi has the effect of eliminating the fishy smell and tightening the taste. It has also been announced that the volatile components of wasabi bind to the proteins of bacteria and have the effect of sterilizing. Sushi eaten raw has long been used to prevent food poisoning with wasabi and garri. Of course, hygiene management is also proper now, so if you don’t like wasabi, you can ask without rust first.
Words that should not be used in sushi restaurants
When you sit at a counter seat, talking with Mr. Itamae is one of the pleasures of sushi. However, there are actually some words that should not be used in sushi restaurants. Soy sauce is called murasaki and tea is agari, which are so-called industry terms. Some people use it normally with the intention of being tsuu, but since it is originally a secret word used among Itamae-san, it is a mistake in manners for customers to use it.
In particular, there is a word that is often used to refer to tea, “Agari”, which is used to mean “serve tea because it seems that the meal is up (over)”. It’s rude for a customer to say, “I’m done eating, so please serve me some tea.” Be sure to ask for tea.
Another word that is often used incorrectly is “oiso”. Some people use it when paying after finishing a meal, but this is a word that the restaurant uses for short to mean “I’m sorry to say something unfriendly, but please pay”. Since the store side will kick out the account, it is a word used so that the corner does not stand out, so it is a mistake for the customer to use it. When asking for accounting, be sure to say “account”.
How to use “Omakase” and “Okimari”
There are two words used when ordering sushi: “omakase” and “okimari”. “Omakase” is an order method in which all the material is left to Mr. Itamae and served in order. There is a method of leaving everything including the budget to you, and a method of specifying a budget and having it managed, and it varies depending on the store. When it comes to high-end stores, there are also stores that only “Omakase”. If you have any material that you are not good at, let them know first.
“Okimari” refers to a course that has a predetermined price such as “Shochiku plum”. Luxury stores often do not display the price of each material, so if you don’t want to worry about it at the time of payment, you should choose “Okimari”. If you are going to a store for the first time, you can choose “Okimari” to understand the stance of the store, such as the order of recommended ingredients.
In either case, they will ask you if there are any additional additions when you’re done. Mr. Itamae serves it in the recommended order of eating, so it is not very desirable to ask for additions in the middle. If you have other ingredients you want to eat (while consulting with your budget), order more at this time. If you have enough, you can answer that it is okay and they will pay the bill.
Geta eats without moving
The platform on which the sushi is placed one step higher on the counter is called geta, but do not move this geta when eating. When eating, some people put the geta on the counter, but Mr. Itamae has a geta in a position where it is easy to place sushi and the customer can easily get sushi. Don’t move the geta, leave it there.
Consideration for the smell of cigarettes, perfumes, etc.
Japanese cuisine such as sushi is a very delicate dish, and the aroma of the ingredients is one of the pleasures. Therefore, cigarettes and perfumes not only erase the subtle flavor of the dish and spoil the original flavor of sushi, but also disturb other customers. If you plan to visit the store in advance, please refrain from smoking and perfume.
Don’t linger if you don’t order
Recently, there are more and more cafes where you can relax, but at sushi restaurants, you should not stay too long after you finish eating. In the case of sushi restaurants, there are not many seats, and some restaurants only have counters. If you stay for a long time without ordering, the next customer will not be able to take your turn. Also, Mr. Itamae cannot rest and becomes a nuisance. When you finish eating, you can quickly pay the bill and leave the store, which is smart and stylish.
Does conveyor belt sushi have a way of eating and manners?
Conveyor belt sushi is attractive because you can enjoy delicious sushi at a reasonable price. Because it is easy to bring children, there are many popular stores that are crowded with families. However, even though they are not as fearful as high-end stores, you still want to observe proper manners. Because it is conveyor belt sushi, there are some manners that you should be careful about, so please check it out before going out with your family.
Don’t put back a plate once you’ve taken it
In conveyor belt sushi, various ingredients are played in the lane, but once you have taken a plate, you should not put it back in the lane. Even if you just took it for confirmation and didn’t touch it, it is NG. Of course, it’s a good idea to return leftovers. A plate taken once by someone else doesn’t feel very good, right? In conveyor belt sushi, it is also necessary to be careful not to disturb other customers. Also, be careful not to put your face too close to the lane.
Don’t walk around the store
Conveyor belt sushi is often large inside, but it is not good to walk around the store when you don’t need it. In particular, it is not limited to conveyor belt sushi, but small children can be running around the store. It is not well-behaved to move around too much in a restaurant. Don’t disturb other customers.
Let’s know the seasonal recommendations of sushi ingredients
There are various sushi ingredients, but the “seasonal” ingredients differ depending on the season. Even if the ingredients are served throughout the year, there is a big difference in taste between the season and the rest of the season. If you know the recommended ingredients for each season, you can enjoy sushi even more. We will introduce some typical ones, so please refer to them when ordering.
Spring is the seasonal sushi material
The representative of sushi ingredients that are in season in spring is bonito. Bonito, which begins to travel north across the Pacific Ocean in spring, is called “Hatsugatsuo” and is low in fat and can be refreshed. In addition, horse mackerel, which is happy to be affordable, is also a fish that is in season from spring to early summer. The slightly pink red sea bream is also called sakura snapper, and although only males are in season in spring, you can enjoy it deliciously.
Sushi ingredients in season in summer
Summer seasonal ingredients include horse mackerel, eel, and hairtail. Also, although they are available all year round, octopus and sea urchins are in season in summer. Sea bass before the spawning season is also fatty and delicious. Hamo, which is used in Kyoto cuisine, is also one of the seasonal ingredients from the end of the rainy season. High-class amberjack is also in season from early summer to autumn. It’s fatty, full-bodied, and exquisite.
Sushi ingredients in season in autumn
One of the best things to get in season in autumn is saury. As written in kanji as “autumn sword fish”, autumn is the most delicious when it is fatty. Saury is usually grilled and eaten at home, but sushi eaten raw has a different taste. The bonito that comes south from the northern sea at this time is called “return gatuo” and has a rich taste with fat on it. Salmon roe is also in season in autumn.
Sushi ingredients in season in winter
In winter, there are many fatty fish, and year-round ingredients such as tuna, engawa (flounder), and mackerel are also the most delicious. In particular, yellowtail is called “cold yellowtail”, and the colder it gets, the more fat it becomes and the more umami it becomes. Although they are available all year round, shellfish such as red shellfish and scallops, sweet shrimp and crabs are sweetest and most delicious in winter. In addition, delicacies such as red bean liver and milt are also unique to winter.
If you know how to eat sushi, you won’t be embarrassed even at a high-end restaurant!
I usually eat sushi casually, but if you have the right knowledge of the order in which you eat it and seasonal ingredients, you can eat it even more deliciously. If you wear proper manners on a daily basis, you can enjoy sushi proudly even if you have the opportunity to eat at a high-class restaurant. Please try sushi, which is the traditional food culture of Japan, in the right way.
