# 4 Things I Hate About (Eating Sushi With) You **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 10, 2004, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-things-i-hate-about-eating-sushi-with-you/259265 "2004-08-10T21:41:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-things-i-hate-about-eating-sushi-with-you/259265/21 "2004-08-11T04:53:16Z")
Umm… I love wasabi. I put it on everything I can. I loves to make me a thermonuclear paste out of about a 4:1 wasabi:soysauce mix and dip some of my sashimi in it. The stuff is like green, sticky crack. I don’t eat absurd amounts of it because I’m trying to prove something, I eat it because it is the condiment of the gods. Sheesh. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-things-i-hate-about-eating-sushi-with-you/259265/22 "2004-08-11T05:20:27Z")
Suddenly I feel the need to guzzle a half a bottle of soy sauce. I have the taste and nothing can sate it but the oppressively salty flavor of Kikkoman’s. Thanks for nothing, guys. ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-things-i-hate-about-eating-sushi-with-you/259265/23 "2004-08-11T05:34:10Z")
> [@OtakuLoki](#): > > I’d always thought that the purpose of wasabi was to ‘cleanse the palate’ between bites of dissimilar sushi. Nah, that’s what the pickled ginger is for. At my favorite sushi place (Tojo’s in Vancouver BC), Tojo-san will tell you what you should dip in the soy sauce and what you should leave undipped. And there’s always enough wasabi already on the sushi, so you don’t need to add more. If only I could afford to eat there more often… ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-things-i-hate-about-eating-sushi-with-you/259265/24 "2004-08-11T06:20:15Z")
Wait, so eating sushi with wasabi and soy sauce makes it halfway edible? _That_’s what I’m doing wrong. I’ll try to remember that the next time I’m feeling masochistic and want to try the stuff. Inari, on the other hand… yum. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-things-i-hate-about-eating-sushi-with-you/259265/25 "2004-08-11T07:48:58Z")
Interestingly enough, in most sushi places you don’t get real wasabi, which is a rhizome that is freshly grated, but rather a mix of horseradish, chinese mustard, and some other stuff. Real wasabi is somewhat similar to horseradish, but has a more refined and distinctive flavor. ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-things-i-hate-about-eating-sushi-with-you/259265/26 "2004-08-11T07:52:43Z")
I prefer to mix enough wasabi into my soy so that it’s a light brown color, then just briefly dip the sushi to add a bit of salty kick. If i’m eating takeout sushi and there’s no good mixing vessel, I’ll just put a bit of wasabi on top and eat it that way. ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-things-i-hate-about-eating-sushi-with-you/259265/27 "2004-08-11T07:58:38Z")
> [@Hunter Hawk](#): > > Nah, that’s what the pickled ginger is for. > > At my favorite sushi place (Tojo’s in Vancouver BC), Tojo-san will tell you what you should dip in the soy sauce and what you should leave undipped. And there’s always enough wasabi already on the sushi, so you don’t need to add more. If only I could afford to eat there more often… When I was in Vancouver on my honeymoon, I found a sushi place over in Richmond called Fukuroku that was pretty good. And cheap. This isn’t sushi, but I also highly recommend the Imperial Chinese Seafood Restaurant. Not so cheap, but damn that was some of the finest dim sum I’ve had. Crap, now I’m hungry. Excuse me… ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-things-i-hate-about-eating-sushi-with-you/259265/28 "2004-08-11T08:23:00Z")
> [@leafrog](#): > > Quote: > Originally Posted by tdn > The peeve I enjoy petting is when people smear wasabi on the sushi. Dammit, mix it with the soy sauce in the little tray, then dip, dipshit. Smearing it is the wrong way to do it. Do it right, damn you! > > * * * > > Funny, I learned to smear the wasabi on my nigiri while living in Japan. Never actually saw anyone put it in their soy. And I ate a _lot_ of sushi in 6 years. Yeah, gonna need a cite on that one, tdn. I think it tastes better with the flavors seperate, instead of having grey soy/wasabe sludge on there. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-things-i-hate-about-eating-sushi-with-you/259265/29 "2004-08-11T08:26:05Z")
> [@](#): > > Interestingly enough, in most sushi places you don’t get real wasabi, which is a rhizome that is freshly grated, but rather a mix of horseradish, chinese mustard, and some other stuff. Real wasabi is somewhat similar to horseradish, but has a more refined and distinctive flavor. That is a good point. Living in Denver, I have never had real wasabe in my life. I would really love to try the real stuff, but it is apparently a true rarity in the U.S. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-things-i-hate-about-eating-sushi-with-you/259265/30 "2004-08-11T09:42:56Z")
> [@blowero](#): > > Yeah, gonna need a cite on that one, tdn. I think it tastes better with the flavors seperate, instead of having grey soy/wasabe sludge on there. Just a personal observation that could be way off, but from what I’ve seen you mix the wasabi and soy to make a dipping sauce for sashimi, but put it directly on the fish (or between the fish and rice) for sushi. Of course, this isn’t a hard and fast rule, and plenty of folks just do whatever comes naturally. ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-things-i-hate-about-eating-sushi-with-you/259265/31 "2004-08-11T12:52:45Z")
I hate you all. How in the world can I manage to get sushi for lunch today? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-things-i-hate-about-eating-sushi-with-you/259265/32 "2004-08-11T13:06:58Z")
> [@blowero](#): > > Yeah, gonna need a cite on that one, tdn. I think it tastes better with the flavors seperate, instead of having grey soy/wasabe sludge on there. I can’t remember the name of the restaurant, but it’s around 140ish Mass Ave in Boston. The middle-aged waitress. She told me to do it. You want a cite? Ask her. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Derfel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bb73d2/32.png) [@Lord\_Derfel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Derfel)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-things-i-hate-about-eating-sushi-with-you/259265/33 "2004-08-11T14:23:59Z")
> [@Hunter Hawk](#): > > Nah, that’s what the pickled ginger is for. > > At my favorite sushi place (Tojo’s in Vancouver BC), Tojo-san will tell you what you should dip in the soy sauce and what you should leave undipped. And there’s always enough wasabi already on the sushi, so you don’t need to add more. If only I could afford to eat there more often… Tojo Trivia: he invented the California roll. I saw an interview with him once, he’s a very interesting guy. When I go back to Vancouver, I am planning to go to his restaurant as soon as I get off the plane. ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-things-i-hate-about-eating-sushi-with-you/259265/34 "2004-08-11T14:33:53Z")
> [@LaurAnge](#): > > I hate you all. > > How in the world can I manage to get sushi for lunch today? Amen to that. I’ll meet you at the sushi place on the corner. Damn thread, and I was gonna go cheap for lunch today. ---
**Author:** ![Frank\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Frank\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank_2)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-things-i-hate-about-eating-sushi-with-you/259265/35 "2004-08-11T14:40:41Z")
> [@Airman Doors](#): > > Suddenly I feel the need to guzzle a half a bottle of soy sauce. I have the taste and nothing can sate it but the oppressively salty flavor of Kikkoman’s. Half a bottle? You pansy. I’ll chug an entire bottle if the onlookers promise not to get squeamish. ---
**Author:** ![Redwing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/dfb087/32.png) [@Redwing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Redwing)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-things-i-hate-about-eating-sushi-with-you/259265/36 "2004-08-11T14:51:44Z")
mmmm… sushi. I’ve always wondered though, who put a condiment on their food before they’ve tried it plain? How are you going to know what will work with what you’re eating if you add stuff to it first? mmm… sushi. Now I have a craving, and I’m not going to have time to go out until Tuesday. mmm… sushi. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-things-i-hate-about-eating-sushi-with-you/259265/37 "2004-08-11T14:52:02Z")
> [@Lord Derfel](#): > > Tojo Trivia: **he invented the California roll.** I saw an interview with him once, he’s a very interesting guy. When I go back to Vancouver, I am planning to go to his restaurant as soon as I get off the plane. … in Vancouver? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Derfel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bb73d2/32.png) [@Lord\_Derfel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Derfel)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-things-i-hate-about-eating-sushi-with-you/259265/38 "2004-08-11T14:56:37Z")
[Yup.](http://www.tojos.com/about/hidekazu.html): > [@](#): > > Vancouver in the early 1970s had only four Japanese restaurants, and Tojo’s first original dishes were aimed at helping locals learn how to appreciate the world of Japanese cuisine. His Tojo tuna (maguro ai) and Tojo-maki (inside-out version of what would become known as “California roll”) created a bridge. His dishes enabled locals unfamiliar with sushi and sashimi to enter a new world. Increasingly, fresh local ingredients unknown or very rare in Japan found pride of place in his new recipes: Gindara (broiled black cod, now known as sablefish), baked local oysters, local albacore tuna, asparagus, and, famously, salmon. Tojo’s barbecued salmon-skin roll, first created in 1974, can today be found in virtually every Japanese restaurant on the West Coast, under the name of “BC roll”. He was also the first to introduce smoked salmon into Japanese cuisine. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-things-i-hate-about-eating-sushi-with-you/259265/39 "2004-08-11T15:05:41Z")
> [@Pochacco](#): > > **This is not a Wasabi-eating Contest.** > **That Little Bowl of Soy Sauce is Not a Swimming Pool.** > **Please Don’t Tell Me What I’m Eating Is Disgusting** You crack me up, **Pochacco**. Don’t you think maybe that after ranting about other people’s sushi-eating habits, you lose the right to complain when they rant about yours? I’ll tell you how I eat my sushi: **however the hell I like to eat it**. If you don’t like it, you’re welcome to avert your eyes. I am not so un-self-confident that I’ll suborn my food preferences in order to meet with your approval; it’s ghastly that some people **are** that timid. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-things-i-hate-about-eating-sushi-with-you/259265/40 "2004-08-11T15:15:59Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > You crack me up, **Pochacco**. Don’t you think maybe that after ranting about other people’s sushi-eating habits, you lose the right to complain when they rant about yours? > > I’ll tell you how I eat my sushi: **however the hell I like to eat it**. If you don’t like it, you’re welcome to avert your eyes. I am not so un-self-confident that I’ll suborn my food preferences in order to meet with your approval; it’s ghastly that some people **are** that timid. > > Daniel You know, I got so sidetracked by my lust for sushi, that I forgot to make this exact point, which was my whole point. Except, maybe not quite as vehemently 😉 But yes, you can’t dog people’s preferences (as ghastly as they may be) and then dog people for dogging yours. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-things-i-hate-about-eating-sushi-with-you/259265.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4-things-i-hate-about-eating-sushi-with-you/259265.md?page=3)