p i x e l s c r i b b l e s: Sushi snobs

Sunday, July 24, 2005

Sushi snobs

Danny Bloom at Japundit links to an article by "Mike (in Tokyo) Rogers" entitled "So You Want To Be a Sushi Snob?" It could be funnier, but it is amusing. Also, I discovered that I've been eating sushi incorrectly. Here is the proper method, apparently:

No! No! No! What are you doing? You do not put the Wasabi (Wasabia japonica) directly into the small bowl of Shoyu (Soy sauce). No one wants to see your plate with some revolting muddy green sludge - a putrid floating pile of flotsam and jetsam - in it. Disgusting. Have you no class? Take your chopsticks and lift the raw fish off of the top of the Nigiri (raw fish on a small rice ball), turn it upside down. Place a small portion of Wasabi on the underside (now facing up) and dip the upper-side (now facing down) into the Shoyu. Do not touch the Wasabi into the Shoyu. Then replace the fish, right side up, back on top of the Nigiri and eat. Try not to get any Shoyu on the rice directly. Also, please, in-spite of yourself, don't have little pieces of rice floating around in your Shoyu bowl either. What do you think this is, an Olympics swimming competition? Of course please refrain from using your unwashed fingers to touch your food - we're trying to eat with adults who have some class and a proper upbringing. We're not eating with a bunch of animals here. Didn't your mother teach you any manners?

After eating each piece of Nigiri, take some Gari (Ginger) - and it had better not be red colored ginger, either - and chew it to clear your palate so that you may enjoy the fresh taste of the next piece of sushi. Repeat.

Rogers adds,

California Rolls and so-called Maki-Zushi (sushi that is rolled up in seaweed) is for kids and drunks who cannot hold their chopsticks.

So, there you have it.

Comments:

damn sushi nazis.

i'll eat my sushi any damn way i want.

=]

# posted by

hphan : Sunday, July 24, 2005 8:01:00 PM

Here, here!! (OR is that hear, hear?!) I'll eat mine however I feel like it, too, cos this kid usually has the rice off her california roll jockeying for position against the large, green gob of wasabi floating in her soy sauce!!

I'm cultured, damnit!!

# posted by

Brookie : Sunday, July 24, 2005 8:58:00 PM

My first Japanese teacher told us it was fine to eat sushi with your hands, but I always had the sneaking suspicion that she meant that it was okay for foreigners to do it because it would be better than having them flail around with chopsticks...

In other news, I just watched Ross and Rachel break up, and I just have to say, Mark Robinson is the devil, I hate that man, if he didn't exist it never would have happened. I'm glad Rachel got a good job finally, but could that guy possibly want in her pants more? I don't think so!

# posted by

Heather Meadows : Sunday, July 24, 2005 9:02:00 PM

Well, the Japanese girl who introduced me to all-things-sushi in 2002 mixed the wasabi into the soy sauce herself. She also said the ginger eating was more an 'as-needed' thing than a matter of proper etiquette between each piece. So, I think this guy is equivalent to some Northeasterners and their lobster. There is a technical way to do it, but most people just want to enjoy the experience and the food.

# posted by

John Duns Scotus : Sunday, July 24, 2005 9:52:00 PM

As it's a humor piece, I'm sure there was some measure of hyperbole to it...I am interested in knowing the proper etiquette, though. I think it would be fun to eat nigiri the way he describes, slowly, savoring the taste of each piece. There's an element of ritual to a lot of Japanese traditions and customs, and while it may not be normal to follow the ritual every day, it is a neat thing to experience.

I'll still order my unakyu (eel rolls) though. ;>

# posted by

Heather Meadows : Sunday, July 24, 2005 10:01:00 PM

From what I remember, a long time ago in the hazy mists of memory, PROPER SUSHI ETIQUETTE means that the wasabi goes on the sushi while the ginger goes into the soy sauce. ::shrug:: Who knows?

# posted by

hphan : Monday, July 25, 2005 12:41:00 AM

I've seen the ginger mixed in with the soy sauce before... and I like mixing the wasabi and shoyu gives it a strong kick.

Guess I'm a little uncultured for Japan. That's ok, it's Japan and I'll take the flexibility that comes with being a foreigner in a strange land.

# posted by

slackv : Monday, July 25, 2005 8:59:00 AM

Well, a lot of Japanese people are uncultured for Japan, too ;> I've read about the proper way to use chopsticks, and I've seen that not too many people follow all those exacting rules.

# posted by

Heather Meadows : Monday, July 25, 2005 10:49:00 AM

Strange. After reading this sushi debate, I have a sudden and overwhelming urge to lay into a 16 ounce ribeye and a pile of mashed potatoes.

# posted by

AJ : Monday, July 25, 2005 11:58:00 AM

...yum.

# posted by

Heather Meadows : Monday, July 25, 2005 12:06:00 PM

I hope this guy was just joking. The way he describes eating nigiri-zushi is considered low class and an insult to the itamae. He worked hard to learn how to do that and you have no business deconstructing it and generally playing with it before eating it. Besides, it already has wasabi on it. As far as putting wasabi into the shoyu, I understand that this is considered correct for sashimi only, so someone please explain how to politely ask for a new shoyu dish after you're done with your sashimi. Just remember, though, that sushi is a blue-collar fast food, or used to be, anyway.

# posted by

Anonymous : Sunday, July 23, 2006 9:17:00 PM