I like to put a dab on my sushi as well. There’s nothing wrong with eating it that way.
I’m not putting just a dab on, though. More like the maximum I can use, and still have enough for all my sushi. There’s only rarely leftovers.
I’m joining this discussion a little late, but for me you can never have too much pickled ginger with sushi, although I’m not a fan of wasabi.
I tend to buy a pre-prepared packet for lunch on a Friday and have to make the ginger last until the end as you only get a small amount.
Luckily we have a “Yo Sushi” and a “Little Tokyo” chain of restaurants nearby and both do very nice sushi. I particularly like the setup at Yo Sushi as they provide all the soy sauce, wasabi and pickled ginger you could ever need as part of the meal.
I eat the sushi without soy sauce. Every now and then, I add some wasabi. I like the ginger because it is supposed to be great for digestion. I don’t like it for taste.
I love the ginger, and usually end up eating both mine and my wife’s. She can’t stand it.
I agree to try the unagi (freshwater eel). It tastes like steak.
I like octopus, but it’s exactly how you’d expect octopus to be (rubbery), Unagi, as noted above, you’d never think was eel unless someone told you.
–Cliffy
The squid and octopus are a toss up. Personally, I find them just so-so. But eel is really, really tasty. If you like teriyaki salmon, you’ll probably like the eel. I get an order of this all for myself, and I don’t share.
Other higher-challenge sushi: ikura (salmon roe)–the eggs pop between your teeth. Available salted and not salted, both tasty. I like it with a raw quail egg on top. And sea urchin, but it has to be ultra-fresh, ie, not in one of those sushi boat places.
As for the ginger, yes, the taste is very strong, but also you may have gotten a bad batch (Pine-Sol?). I know some people (Mom, Prince Charming) who would eat the whole jar if allowed.
I like the pickled ginger, and I do get a little of the Pine-Sol thing you mentioned. I usually just take a small pice of it and move it around insdie my mouth as I’m chewing it. It does leave your palate feeling clean.
I love unagi, too but because it’s loaded with cholesterol, I can’t have it. It is cooked, and covered with unagi sauce, which is a thickened sweet soy sauce.
My absolute favorite thing is…something a little more advanced. I like the uni, which is raw sea urchin roe on the sushi rice, wrapped in seaweed. But I then ask the sushi chef to top it off with the yolk of a quail’s egg. It’s really rich and buttery to pop one of those into your mouth and flip it so the roe and egg yolk are on your tongue, before you kinds press the whole thing into the roof of your mouth to savor before you start chewing.
I LOVE the sushi rice. It’s the right amount of sticky and sweet. I could eat it by the bucketful.
I am on the fence about the ginger. I’ll eat it,but not with a lot of enthusiasm. My mom uses it on one of her steamed fish dishes and it’s great with that,but I actually think it interferes witht he flaovor of the sushi. I had no idea it was supposed to clean your palate,I always thought it was a garnish you were allowed to eat. I cannot abide wasabi. I do not like food that could kill me.
I love eel,shrimp(any kind of shrimp,I am not picky) and these awesome little bits of spicy goodness,Spicy Tuna Rolls.
I’m going to have to give that a try, maybe with different cheeses too.
Heh. I get it from the Russian market and eat it on toast points. Only they call it ‘caviar’.
Yes, I’m too cheap to buy the expensive caviar.
come on over, in our house it is a snack item =)
It makes a great snack, about a tablespoon drained is great to nibble on. mrAru on the other hand will hork down a small jar of it at a time.
Just my two yens’ worth:
I love sushi. The freshwater eel (unagi) is not as bad as it sounds. It’s served grilled (meaning cooked, not raw) and is covered in a sweet teriyaki sauce. I would describe the taste as chicken-like* with the texture of fish–buttery soft.
According to several “Sushi 101” books, some sushi chefs already put a small dab of wasabi between the rice and fish to give it the right amount of kick. In fact, it’s okay to simply eat the sushi as it is without (additional) wasabi or soy sauce. Like what was said up-thread, don’t mess up a perfectly good steak with A1.
- It doesn’t really taste like chicken. But it’s the closest comparison, because it definitely doesn’t taste like beef, pork, or any other meat. Maybe snake, but I’m trying to win converts here. In any case, it’s good!
** Never ask for A1 at a French restaurant. I learned the hard way. In my defense, I’ve never had steak at a French restaurant before, and at the time, I didn’t know what a red wine reduction sauce was even if you dumped a bucket of the stuff on me. :smack:
I like the ginger and the soy sauce, no wasabi.
Ginger can be a digestive aid, though I don’t know if that applies to the pickled version.
I thought you were supposed to put a piece of ginger on each piece of sushi. Also to put a bit of wasabi on it, or else dissolve the wasabi in the soy sauce before dipping.
Is that not proper under the code of Sushido?
I’m not any kind of expert, but I can tell you that that’s not what it’s there for. That being said, if you like sushi with a slice of pickled ginger on top, don’t let any snob tell you to stop because you’re insulting the chef.
I’d also not worry about adding wasabi or soy sauce, except for two situations:
- The sushi already has a sauce on it (like spicy mayo)
or - You’re ordering Omakase style.
IME pickled ginger can be all over the map quality and taste wise. I really like it, but I’ve on rare occasion had some bad stuff that tasted more like pickled pine tree root than anything else. Having said that, a decent sushi place probably had decent ginger. IME the really smooth/soft/fine grained stuff tastes pretty good. The coarse, hard, fiberous stuff not very good.
I picked up the putting some wasabi in the soy sauce thing from an aunt who was thrilled to find that I adore sushi because apparently she’s had a hard time finding people to go eat it with. So when she goes out of town I help dogsit her girls and then I get paid in sushi. Win-win all around. Happy her, happy doggies, and very happy me!
I hate California rolls. I thought I didn’t like sushi for years because of them. All those oppportunities missed, such a waste! But the first time I had actual tuna rolls I was an instant convert. I need to start working my way up to the scary-looking stuff so I can impress my parents the next time they visit. I’ve learned to quit worrying about what’s in there too much and just eat it. I don’t like avocado outside of sushi, for one, and avoided it for awhile. But in sushi? Sure! Shrimp sashimi? Bring it on! But spicy tuna rolls with cucumber are still my favorites. I think I could live off of them.
And I love the ginger, though I don’t often eat very much of it. I don’t know why, though, it’s yummy.
Purists claim that it’s gauche. I’m Japanese American I’ve never had any Japanese person bag on me for tossing a piece of ginger on it though.
I tried making takoyaki (octopus balls) which contain a a slice of picked ginger. Cheap bastard that I am, I bought a huge jar of cheap Chinese pickled ginger, and indeed it did taste vaguely of Pine-sol. I’ll by the Japanese stuff next time.
Anyone here tried Trader Joe’s sunny rolls? They have a carrot wrap instead of seaweed, and the inner part is a bit spicy and creamy.
Unagi (eel) is my favorite. The girl I just started seeing also lists unagi as her favorite, which kind of pisses us both off - since now we’ll have to order more when we get a combo plate. I always used to count on people reacting strongly against eel without having it, so that I’d be able to swoop in.
Like twopiecesofeight mentioned - unagi is cooked (either grilled or steamed) and served with a delicious teriyaki sauce on it. It’s absolutely delicious. I’d say it has the same texture as perfectly cooked scallops - not chewy or rubbery at all (like many first assume).