Best way to eat sushi
The simple and most formal way of eating sushi, which even many Japanese do not know, is the expert’s way, described below:
1. Tip the sushi
First, tip the sushi onto its side on the plate. Pinching the topping and the rice together, pick the sushi up keeping it on its side.
2. Soy sauce & wasabi
Apply a small amount of soy sauce and wasabi to the tip of the topping. Be careful not to apply too much.
3. Turn the sushi
Turn the sushi around and eat. Eaten this way, the soy sauce can be applied properly to the topping, and the sushi eaten delicately.
*Once the topping has been dipped in the soy sauce, put the sushi into your mouth like that – upside down with the topping at the bottom. In this way, you can taste the topping with your tongue. Sushi has much greater effect when eaten so that the topping comes into direct contact with the tongue.
Wasabi
This is an indispensable ingredient in sushi. It is used to cancel the fishy smell and sharpen the taste as well as for its antibacterial properties. Wasabi is usually already sandwiched between the topping and the rice, so there is no need to add extra.
Green tea and pickled ginger
The green tea, known in sushi circles as “agari”, contains a bitter component called “catechin” which prevents the activity of bacteria that can cause food poisoning, as well as being effective in killing carcinogen-producing bacteria in the intestine. The pickled ginger, known as “gari” refreshes the palate, removing fishy smell and also acting as an anti-bacterial agent.
