英語-おいしく食べるには

How to eat sushi more deliciously

When enjoying sushi, there are no complicated rules of conduct you need to follow, like those you need to for a tea ceremony.
However, there are ways to eat sushi that will enhance the experience.
A frequently raised question is whether to eat by hand or by using chopsticks.
During the times when the nigiri sushi made its debut, people were in the habit of enjoying the dish by hand at yatais (food stalls). where standing and eating was the order of the day.
But as time passed. the custom of sitting down. even at counters. was introduced. along with the use of chopsticks.
So whichever way is appropriate, but eating by hand helps you enjoy sushi more easily, since doing so helps you prevent rice from spilling and makes it easier to dip the delicacy into some soy sauce .
However, prior to eating, make sure you wash your hands well.
Whichever method you opt for in the end, if you are going to eat nigiri sushi, avoid removing the topping and eating it separately from the rice.
Also, avoid going overboard with the soy sauce.

Wipe your hands well with an oshibori (a moist hand towel) and then lay the sushi sideways by lightly grasping it. using your thumb. forefinger. and middle finger.
The material is made to become below and the soy sauce is applied only a little ahead.

Origins

The roots of sushi is said to trace back to the curcian carp sushi of Oomi (currently Shiga prefecture).
This dish continues to be served there to this day.
The nare sushi, an ancient sushi fare enjoyed one thousand years ago, is a typical variation of this original entree and was prepared by pickling fish meat with rice and preserving the fish with the lactate acid produced through the fermentation of the pickled preparation.

The rice was thrown away and only the fish was eaten. Over time, as the method of rice cooking changed and as vinegar came to be made, the rice-sushi (ii sushi). a preparation mostly comprising rice. was born.
Thereafter, we see the birth of contemporary creations, such as Kansai’s saba-no-bouzushi (pressed mackerel sushi) and the shoutai no suzume sushi (small sea bream sushi).
Eventually, the box sushi, a delicacy made by pressing rice and fish packed into a box, arrived on the market.

Meanwhile, the haya sushi (early sushi) arrived as well. Ripening more quickly by
adding vinegar to both the fish and rice. this type of sushi paved the way to the rise
and development of the nigiri sushi (the hand-rolled or hand-formed sushi)

Whether you are talking about the Kansai-school sushi or the Edo-school nigiri sushi,
what they both have in common are their ingredients of fish and rice, which are made i delicious by the sourness of vinegar.
They are both testament to a historic food culture pecuhar toJapan-One that was cultivated over the passage of a long ume.

The artisan’ s spirit and hygiene

While a person who prepares cuisine is commonly referred to as a cook or chef, in the world of sushi cuisine. such a person is known as itamae. or sushi artisan.
An itamae is someone who has completed a strict course of study to master specialized, culinary techniques.
These techniques involve a series of tasks, including molding the sushi, packing it into a box and pressing it, winding it around with a dish towel, and rolling it with a bamboo mat.

They are all carried out by hand and require an artisan’s expertise.
Most likely, sushi cuisine is the only type of cuisine in the world that makes use of the hand to complete a dish.
For the sushi artisan, the hands are business assets. 
For this reason, he treats them with care every day, and is always mindful about hygiene when preparing sushi, completely devoted to assuring safety for customers without compromising flavor.

Sushi to be enjoyed without soy sauce

Some sushi are more enjoyable without flavoring them with soy sauce.
Such sushi. as a general rule. are those with cooked ingredients spread over the topping. such as sea eel. giant clam. clam. and cooked cuttlefish.
In addition, tamago yaki (fried egg), kanpyo maki (dried gourd shavings roll), futomaki
(thick rolls), and date-maki (futomaki wrapped with sweet-ramago yaki) are also sushi you should not flavor with soy sauce, as a general rule.
These sushi are usually premium dishes that offer distinctive flavors of the restaurant in which they are served, so it is a good idea to enjoy them without seasoning.
In addition, you should avoid seasoning sushi with a topping that has already been seasoned with soy sauce by the itamae (chef). When in doubt. don’t hesitate to ask him. He will advise you in a friendly manner.

The hakozushi has its origins in Osaka and remains very popular in the Kansai region to this day.
This type of sushi is enjoyed without soy-sauce flavoring and is prepared with shrimp, sea eel, or omelet boiled or roasted beforehand Eitl1er of these ingredients is placed atop the shari compacted in a wooden box, strongly pressed, and then cut into pieces.
Since the ingredient found between the topping and shari is flavored. along with the shari itself, if you add some soy sauce the original flavor will be lost.
The connoisseur will also refrain from applying soy sauce on the bouzushi variety (literally “rod sushi” variety), which includes the battera sushi and the matsumae sushi popular in the Kansai area.

Sushi that cannot be easily seasoned with soy sauce
It is not easy to apply soy sauce to gunkan sushi(battle ship-like sushi), such as uni (sea urchin) and ikura (salmon roe) or to sushi like aji(horse mackerel) that are topped with condiments like ginger and leek.
For such types of sushi, pick up a small portion of gari (pickled ginger), dip it into soy sauce, and brush the topping with this ginger to season with soy sauce.

There is no particular order in which sushi should be eaten and there is nothing wrong in starting from your favorite dish.
However, you may find it more please able to start with a sushi dish that has a plain topping, such as whitefish, and keep working your way up to more stronger flavored ones, finishing witha refreshing dish, such as kappa maki (cucumber roll) or oshinko maki (pickled roll).

Rice portion

You can freely order how much rice you would like your nigiri sushi to be prepared with.
Just say ookimeni (large portion) or futsuni (normal portion) or koburini (small portion), and the itamae (chef) will gladly comply.

The role of tea

The tea served at sushi restaurants is for removing any aftertaste.
Specifically, the idea behind serving a full cup of hot tea is to wash down the aftertaste of the fish that remains after eating sushi, be more enjoying your next one.
If the taste of the tea itself is on the strong side, the inherent tasty flavor of the sushi may turn bad.

For this reason, either powdered tea or bancha Oapanese tea of ordinary quality) is most suitable for serving at sushi restaurants.