Sushi Do’s and Don’ts

Jaclyn Allen
MCT Campus

With the popularity of sushi growing every day and its somewhat recent arrival at Ursa’s, it’s logical to ask if are there any special manners to have at the sushi table. Here’s a list of some etiquette rules that you need to know.

Sushi Do’s

– Do use the other end of your chopsticks to take sushi or sashimi off the communal plate or to place food on another’s plate; this is considered sanitary.
– Do eat the sushi or sashimi in one bite; it was meant to be eaten that way. If it is too big, force it apart with chopsticks.
– Do hold the chopsticks by the end rather than the middle or the tip.
– Do use your fingers if you can’t handle chopsticks.
– Do start off a night with a white fish and move to redder and richer seafood.
– Do dip either fish or rice side down; dipping methods vary even in Japan, although soy sauce is best on the fish.Sushi Don’ts

– Don’t fill the sauce dish to the top; the sushi will either splash down or the rice will be soaked in soy sauce. It’s also seen as wasteful, so only pour a little bit into the dish.
– Don’t leave the sushi or sashimi in the sauce dish or the soy sauce will be overpowering.
– Don’t rest chopsticks on the table; rest them against the plate or in chopstick rests.
– Don’t spear food with chopsticks.
– Don’t leave chopsticks stuck in the rice of the rice bowl; that’s a funeral custom.
– Don’t top the sushi with the pink stuff. The pink stuff is pickled ginger and it’s to be a palate cleanser between different types of sushi.

Sushi counterfeiters beware: Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture has launched a team of food inspectors to separate the good from the bad. Beginning in April, teams of food inspectors will be walking into Japanese restaurants around the world to see if the food is true to Japanese tradition. Restaurants that pass the test will be given a special seal of approval that incorporate cherry blossoms in the design. So if you walk into a Japanese restaurant in the next few years and see this seal, know you will be served authentic Japanese food.

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