Sushi

Traditionally, sushi is eaten with fingers or chopsticks. ¹⁾

Soy sauce is one of the most important condiments of Asian cuisine, nowadays also used in the kitchens of Western origin. ²⁾

Sushi is served with soy sauce for dipping, wasabi, and pickled ginger. ³⁾

Wasabi is a green paste, the addition of which makes sushi more flavorful and distinctive. Wasabi, or Japanese horseradish, is a plant from the cabbage family. Isothiocyanates, mainly sangirin, are responsible for the sharp taste of wasabi. Wasabi is served as a separate condiment but also as an element of sushi. A piece of fish is spread with wasabi on one side before it is wrapped with nori or covered with rice. ⁴⁾

Marinated ginger is eaten between each type of sushi to cleanse the taste buds. For this reason, drinking water is also not recommended and green tea is preferred. ⁵⁾

According to Japanese custom, sushi in restaurants is served in sets, which have different names: matsu (pine) - an exquisite, expensive set, take (bamboo) - an intermediate set, ume (Japanese plum) - a cheap set. ⁶⁾

Some restaurants prefer a self-service form of serving sushi by means of a moving belt that moves around the bar. The staff place different colored plates with different kinds of sushi on the belt and the customers themselves choose the one they want. Each color of the plate means a different price for sushi. ⁷⁾

Traditional Japanese cuisine is characterized by simplicity and minimalism; traditional sushi consists of only two ingredients. It is a namasumono type dish, which means that it is served raw. It usually consists of sashimi - raw meat of fish or seafood and shari - specially prepared, acidified rice. ⁸⁾

There are several basic types of sushi: nigiri, maki, uramaki, gunkan maki, oshi, temaki, inari, chirashi-zushi. ⁹⁾

Nigiri is the oldest and most popular type of sushi. It is a squeezed, pressed, finger-shaped portion of rice covered with a layer of wasabi and on which a piece of fish, seafood, or other supplement is placed. There are many variations of nigiri but the most popular are with raw or smoked fish. ¹⁰⁾

Maki is the most popular variety of sushi in Europe and the United States. Maki is prepared by wrapping rice with additives in sheets of nori algae. Using a special bamboo mat a roll is formed and then cut into smaller pieces. There are many varieties of maki, depending on the amount and type of filling. The most popular are hosomaki and futomaki. ¹¹⁾

Gunkan maki are small rolls of nori flakes in which rice is placed at the bottom and the rest is filled with filling. ¹²⁾

Temaki or “rolled” sushi. in which rice and other ingredients are wrapped in a fried sheet of nori seaweed. Temaki is rolled into cones and very often prepared at the customer's table. ¹³⁾

Sushi should be eaten all at once, without slicing or separating ingredients. ¹⁴⁾

It is a faux pas to use too much soy sauce; pour a minimal amount so that the saucepan is empty after eating the sushi. ¹⁵⁾