Is sushi "Americanized"?

Factual Questions
21

I don’t buy that there is that much good sushi in the states. The best I ever had was in Niagara of all places, because they get lots of Japanese tourists. But it still didn’t beat anything I can get here in Japan.

Sushi is not worth eating cheap. Don’t buy it packaged in plastic. While it is technically sushi, it’s NOT sushi. Sushi has most definitely been “dumbed down” for Americans who don’t know what it’s supposed to taste like. This is not meant to be mean spirited at all, by the way. If all you’ve had is American sushi and you like it, enjoy. But once you’ve tasted the real thing, there is no going back.

22

Blowfish is yummy. GIve me one with, one without.

23

Eel has a subtle flavor? Every time I’ve had it, it was coated with a brown sauce that was very salty and likely shoyu based (it tasted like a very salty teriyaki sauce, sans sugar). If the meat was supposed to have a flavor independent of this sauce, it was nigh impossible to discern it. Is this a traditional preparation or some American bastardization? (I’m thinking the former, as, IIRC, it was served this way in even the higher end sushi restaurants in Hawaii and California.)

24

I don’t pretend to know anything about authentic sushi, and I enjoy the standard sushi fare served in most CA japanese restaurants. However, I did read a food review last summer for a place that was so “authentic” that the sushi chefs would get angry if you dunked your sushi into the soy/wasabi bowl rice first.

The story went that the authentic way to eat sushi is to use your fingers and dunk it meat first into the soy. Is this true?

(I generally don’t “dunk” anyway, but use chopstics to tab a little soy onto the top. My friend lets his sushi soak in the little bowl of soy! :stuck_out_tongue: )

Also, you sushi purists out there will probably feel nauseous when I tell you about “Wok and Roll” in Old Town Pasadena - they have various cut rolls named after Rock and Roll personalities… most of the combinations sound vile even to me. The worst one has to be the “Elvis Roll” - Peanut Butter, Banana, and Bacon, if I remember correctly… I’ve never ordered it. And never will.

25

So authentic they get angry at you for not doing it the ‘Japanese’ way? I think that’s just at American restaurants that want to give themselves a reputation for being ‘exclusive’. At even the most expensive sushi restaurants (or any type of restaurant for that matter) in Japan, as long as you’re putting the food in your mouth, the chefs would never think of criticizing a customer.

I’m not sure if using your hands is the “authentic” way, but it’s an acceptable way. Mostly I see it being done by older men after they’ve had a few beers.

Your way of saucing your sushi sounds just fine. I usually pick the whole thing up with my chopsticks dip it lightly in the soy sauce, and I’m just imitating what I see most of the Japanese around me do. My (future) mother-in-law takes the meat from the rice with her chopsticks and dips that in the sauce, but I’m not confident enough about my hand-eye coordination to try that in public.

–sublight.

26

So authentic they get angry at you for not doing it the ‘Japanese’ way? I think that’s just at American restaurants that want to give themselves a reputation for being ‘exclusive’. At even the most expensive sushi restaurants (or any type of restaurant for that matter) in Japan, as long as you’re putting the food in your mouth, the chefs would never think of criticizing a customer.

I’m not sure if using your hands is the “authentic” way, but it’s an acceptable way. Mostly I see it being done by older men after they’ve had a few beers.

Your way of saucing your sushi sounds just fine. I usually pick the whole thing up with my chopsticks dip it lightly in the soy sauce, and I’m just imitating what I see most of the Japanese around me do. My (future) mother-in-law takes the meat from the rice with her chopsticks and dips that in the sauce, but I’m not confident enough about my hand-eye coordination to try that in public.

–sublight.

27

So authentic they get angry at you for not doing it the ‘Japanese’ way? I think that’s just at American restaurants that want to give themselves a reputation for being ‘exclusive’. At even the most expensive sushi restaurants (or any type of restaurant for that matter) in Japan, as long as you’re putting the food in your mouth, the chefs would never think of criticizing a customer.

I’m not sure if using your hands is the “authentic” way, but it’s an acceptable way. Mostly I see it being done by older men after they’ve had a few beers.

Your way of saucing your sushi sounds just fine. I usually pick the whole thing up with my chopsticks dip it lightly in the soy sauce, and I’m just imitating what I see most of the Japanese around me do. My (future) mother-in-law takes the meat from the rice with her chopsticks and dips that in the sauce, but I’m not confident enough about my hand-eye coordination to try that in public.

–sublight.

28

Cool it with the “Submit Reply” button already, okay Sublight?

29

If all you’ve ever tried K.K. is anago then you really want to try unagi. The freshwater eel is a lot more delicate in flavor. Ask your itami to make you an unagi maki with a little cucumber and green onion, hold the tare sweet soy so that you can taste it all. You might change your mind about eel.

And yes, the way you had it is traditional, it’s just not always the most complimentry to the fish. It serves as a flavor change up from the usual fare with the sweet soy.

Here’s a list of sushi from another site.

maguro, tuna
toro, fatty tuna belly
shiro maguro, albacore
hamachi, yellowtail
katsuo, bonito
kohada, Japanese shad
saba, mackerel
sake, salmon
tai, porgy, red snapper
hirame, halibut
suzuki, sea bass
unagi, freshwater eel
anago, sea eel
tako, octopus
ika, squid
awabi, abalone
mirugai, geoduck clam
torigai, Japanese cockle
aoyagi, Japanese red clam
akagai, pepitona clam
kobashira, small scallops
kaibashira, large scallops
kani, crab
ebi, cooked prawn
ama ebi, raw prawn
ikura, salmon roe
uni, sea urchin roe
tobiko, flying-fish roe
masago, capelin roe
tamago, hen’s egg omelet

30

They wouldnt criticize a customer because that would mean the customer would lose face, and you dont do that.

When i dip the sushi, i use very little soy and wasabi. I dont soak it, just enough for a little added flavor. And, i dont care, with the bigger rolls it’s a little unweildy to use chopsticks to pick them up. Kind of messy when you have flying fish roe on the outside of the roll.

31

Pardon me for ranting, but I am so tired of this little bit of pop sociology that everyone is always throwing at Japan. Yes, maintaining face is a big deal in Japanese culture. But c’mon, you mean in a high class French restaurant the waiters WOULD criticize the customers? The chefs don’t criticize the customers because they’re CUSTOMERS, not because the customer would lose face. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

No offense, Doobieous…this is a pet peeve.

I have always been told that dipping your sushi meat side first is technically the proper way. I would like to say every Japanese person I know does it this way, but I don’t always pay attention. It makes sense though, because getting soy sauce all over your rice makes it fall apart. Also, since turning the sushi too far upside down for too long will make the fish fall off, you have to do it quick and you only get a little bit of sauce on it, which is the ideal as far as I have been told. These are all personal guesses though. I don’t know for sure.

Getting sauce on the rice also changes the texture of the rice, and texture is all in Japanese cuisine. I have been told that all the grains of rice in nigiri-zushi made by a true master face the same direction. Could be bs, but it would be cool if it’s true.

32

Geez, I can’t believe I spent all that time in Japan and was totally clueless about sushi rules. :rolleyes: Mind, I couldn’t afford to dine at the expensive sushi-yas,so I got my sushi jones taken care of at kaitensushi joints, where customers sit down in front of a conveyer belt and pick what they want as it passes by. I never saw California rolls there, but they do put dabs of mayo on top of some cuts of sashimi, like hamachi and fried eel. I didn’t watch Japanese guys eat, but dipping the meat in the soy sauce keeps your rice from falling apart.

In addition, Japanese drink beer, not sake, with sushi. Generally, you don’t drink sake with rice. If you want to go out on a sake bender, go to a teppanyaki joint, where the chefs serve fried stuff on sticks. I went to a terrific place on Shijo-dori in Kyoto and had a hell of a time!

What I really miss is the triangular o-nigiri you can get at convenience stores for Y120. They are triangle-shaped rice cakes stuffed with meat, fish, or egg, and come with a sheet of salted seaweed to wrap it in. Two o-nigiri and a can of Suntory coffee make a kickass breakfast or lunch.

I’ve had a lot of sushi in Japan, Korea (where they call it saengson hoe chobap, and here in the US. The two
most authentic US joints were both in New Orleans: Samurai Sushi in the Quarter, and a place in Metarie, but I forgot the name. The sushi joints I’ve been to here in DC’s Virginia suburbs aren’t very good.

As far as authentic Chinese food goes, it’s hard to find outside of ethnic Chinese neighborhoods. But then, you don’t want authentic Chinese food anyway: it’s really oily and they use every part of the animal, like stewed cow lungs, chicken feet (which I had in Taiwan), and so on. Of course, that’s mostly Cantonese cooking, and the Cantonese eat anything.
Food in China is a mixed bag. I had some lamb fritters in Xi’an and they were the most delicious, albeit really greasy, things I had ever had. My first day in Beijing, for breakfast we had some truly disgusting steamed bread (baozi), but for dinner we found a Peking duck restaurant recommended in Lonely Planet, not too far from the KFC by Tiananmen Square, and the food was nothing short of glorious. Crisp, fried slices of duck, served with scallions * hoi sin* sauce, and wafer-thin pancakes to wrap the food together.

33

Sushi newbie, here. I recently moved to Seattle, and I think I’m hooked ;).

A question: I really really want to eat sushi at home, but I’m too lazy/clueless to make it. If I buy some from a high-quality Japanese grocery (like Uwajimaia), how should it be handled if not eaten immediately? Clearly, it should be refrigerated unless I eat it right away (like in the car on the way home - a distinct possibility), but should it warm a little between the fridge and my plate? And how long will it keep in the fridge?

34

Actually a friend whose father is a sushi chef in Japan told me this. Dont you think it is applicable? You dont embarass people in a society where everyone needs to get along for it to function fairly smoothly (and in Tokyo with 40,000,000 people, it’s necessary to get along with people as much as possible.

Oh and your example about the french: A person i know who is from france has told me it’s not odd for people in parisian restaurants to be rude to customers (usually tourists, but he’s from the north and has gotten bad service at cafes there.

35

Sorry, didn’t mean to go nuts with the ‘submit’ button there. :rolleyes:

–sublight.