Tips

Etiquette

To relish Sushi the traditional way, you will need the fitting accessories.

Hashi

First there are the Hashi, the Japanese chopsticks. You will find them in front of you on the table. While you do not use them, you lay them down parallel to the edge of the table. Together with the chopsticks comes a small ceramic bench, Hashi oki, where you put the tops of the chopsticks on. Also you will have a small ceramic dish to put soy sauce in later on. At the beginning of the Sushi-meal you will usually get a hot towel, an Oshibori, to wipe over your face and hands.

You can eat Sushi with your hands or the chopsticks. No matter how, in both cases you take the Sushi piece, usually a mouthful, and put it in the provided soy sauce. Take care just to dip the fish part in and not the rice that could fall apart (and this is said to be very indelicate). Besides, the rice absorbs the soy sauce too fast and covers the fine taste of the fish completely. After dipping the piece is eaten with one bite.

While eating with chopsticks there may occur some misunderstandings in Japan. It is very impolite to point with the chopsticks at persons; also the passing on of a piece of Sushi from one chopstick to another will at least incur displeasure because this reminds of a Japanese tradition at funerals.

Beverages

Kirin Bier

Traditionally you have green tea or Japanese rice wine with Sushi. But a beer or a glass of wine will also fit perfectly.

If you want to have green tea with Sushi, you can resort without hesitation to the common Japanese types like Bancha or Sencha. Their sweet flavor suits the raw fish very fine. To prepare the green tea you take about 1½ to 2 teaspoons of tea per cup. Bancha then is brewed per pot, Sencha per cup with boiling water.

Japanese rice wine is called Sake. It is made of fermented rice, malt and water. Sake has an alcoholic content of 16 % to 19 % and its taste varies from sweet to dry. You should store it in a dry and cool place. You may drink it warm or cold. When drinking rice wine to Sushi, you usually warm it up to body temperature.

Soups

The ideal beginning for the Sushi pleasure is a soup. Possibly a clear stock, Suimono, or a Miso-soup (Misoshiru), made of fermented soybean paste. In Japan soups are always served boiling hot and drunken out of a cup. You reduce the temperature to a bearable mark by sipping.