Please allow me to start this "tips and tricks" session by giving you some background on my sushi experiences and to let you know that this is a fun and light-hearted blog. I am not laying down the law here. Just giving some info and recommendations that have worked for me locally in the States and abroad while living in Japan. Enjoy.
Sushi has been a love of mine since I first tried it in Denver Colorado back in 1998. I had tried bento box sushi before 1998, but remember almost spitting out my first bite of California roll due to the overwhelming, gag reflex that the nori (seaweed) sparked in me. I didn't want it to be that way. I really wanted to love sushi!
My first REAL sushi experience:
I remember it like it was yesterday. Well, maybe not yesterday, but I remember the scene. My wife and I had just finished sightseeing on the 16th street mall. We were hungry and decided to pop into Sonoda's sushi bar and restaurant. I don't recall what exactly prompted us to try a true sushi bar. We frequented Japanese restaurants a lot and still do. Maybe it was knowing that they had other stuff than sushi on the menu, maybe it was a whim. That part I do not know.
What I do know is that in this Japanese restaurant, we were feeling bold. We only ordered from the nigiri sushi menu, you know, slices of fish, egg, octopus, or any other myriad of ocean dwelling denizens, positioned neatly atop a rectangular cube of sticky, vinegar rice. YUM! I almost always order a soup and it is 99% of the time miso. Again, YUM!
We stuck to the basics; Maguro (Tuna), Shake (Salmon), Hamachi (Yellowtail), Tako (Octopus), Ebi (Shrimp) and we liked it. A LOT!
What began after that many of you fellow sushi lovers will understand... We had cravings, and I mean CRAVINGS for sushi. We wanted it for every meal. We were hooked. We quickly became friends with the head sushi chef and he taught us a bunch. Sometimes he would give us a roll and substitute rolling it in nori for rolling it in thinly sliced cucumber! YUM! I have since learned that leaving your entire meal up to the sushi chef is a VERY GOOD idea. They want to please you and they want you to enjoy your meal. You will try things you have never tasted before. Some you will love, others you won't. Be honest with the chef. He will tailor your next dish based on feedback from the previous dishes. Wonderful.
We lived in Denver for the next several years, enjoying sushi from various restaurants but always coming back to Sonoda's for good quality at a great price. Sushi Den is a good restaurant too but a little too expensive (They boast getting much of their fish directly from the Tsukiji Fish Market in Japan). In 2002 we relocated for 2 1/2 years to Sydney, Australia.
Now, at this point you might think that the frequency of us dining on sushi would have increased. It did not. It lessened in order to make way for other wonderful cuisines from all over the world. Thai, Indian, Australian, Greek, Pub food, Swiss, French, Chinese, Korean, and of course Japanese just to name a few. Australia is wonderful and we loved every moment of our time in that wonderful country. My work allowed us to travel to Hong Kong, the Philippines, Singapore, New Zealand, and all over Australia. We made fantastic friends and enjoyed a wonderful life of friends, food, fun, sand, and sun!
Coming back from Australia landed us happily in Austin, Texas. Sushi Sake, Mikado, Yu Sushi, Uchi, Umi, and Musashino are all great choices for really good sushi in Austin, but now to the best sushi related thing to happen to us EVER! In May of 2007 we relocated to Tokyo, Japan for almost a year!!!!
Japan is AMAZING! Let me say that again; Japan is AMAZING!
I don't even know where to start and I could write a book on sushi (and ramen) just in Japan alone. I'll skip the details and let your imagination run with it, but I will say I ate sushi brought in on the boats only hours before in the Tsukiji Fish Market! Hours old sushi!! Simply AMAZING!!!
Tips, Tricks, Advice:
If you live outside of Japan, don't sweat the traditional sushi etiquette stuff. Enjoy yourself. Don't worry about the rules. Your chef may not even be Japanese. If you are interested in some of the etiquette though (I was even before Japan and now I can't eat sushi enjoyably without following proper etiquette), go here: http://www.sushifaq.com/howtoeatsushi-etiquette.htm and here: http://www.sushisecrets.com/sushibar.html
So:
- It's okay to put wasabi in your soy sauce. (Not favorable in Japan)
- It's okay to use your hands. (Nigiri is actually eaten with hands a lot in Japan)
- It's okay to eat a piece in more than one bite. (Not favorable in Japan)
- It's okay to put soy sauce on your rice. (Not favorable in Japan)
- Sit at the sushi bar if it works for you (no stroller or small kids)
- Ask the sushi chef for a recommendation
- Sitting at the bar? Ask the head chef to arrange your entire meal. (Awesome experience with a talented chef and let him know up front if you just don't care for specific items, ie. cilantro)
- At the bar and enjoying yourself? Buy the chef a beer of his choice. He will not turn you down. Make sure you order one too so you may toast (KANPAI!)
- Try new things. A spider roll may not sound appetizing but tempura battered soft-shell crab is wonderful!
- Ask what each item is (good restaurants will tell you without having to ask) so that you can begin to recognize them just by looking
- Ask what a popular dish is for that restaurant
- Ask if there is anything they serve that is NOT on the menu! Here in Austin, Sushi Sake has the Spicy Carlos, Spicy Susan, and Yaki Maki but they are not on the menu. They are WICKED Good!!!
- Ask to substitute things. Don't like avacado? Ask for cucumber instead. Don't care for wasabi on your nigiri? Try sashimi or ask for no wasabi. You're not in Japan, it's probably fine
- When dining with others, share! Especially if you order rolls. 8 small peices of sushi are meant to be distributed evenly amongst your group! ;-)
- Don't put gari (pickled ginger) on your sushi! It is to be used as a palette cleanser in between different dishes.
Watch this and laugh. It is sarcastic and funny!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0b75cl4-qRE
