While it is true that ミス・マナーズ might recommend applying wasabi directly to the sashimi (or sushi if you must, but if you wanted wasabi on your sushi you should have asked the itamae for it), almost everyone I have ever eaten with here uses the mix and dip method. Anytime I’ve even brought up the ‘rule’ in conversation the general consensus has been “If you like wasabi-jouyu, why not enjoy it?”
Missed the edit window to clarify that if you want to be all manner pedant about it, you should not be adding wasabi to sushi at all. Unless you request otherwise, the chef will be adding wasabi already to any sushi that benefits from it. It’s sashimi that you are meant to add wasabi to yourself and again, while manners dictate that you should add the wasabi to the sashimi directly rather than mixing it in the soy sauce, nobody really gives a hey now what you do with it. It’s your food.
Given that the FDA requires all fish served raw with the exception of tuna be frozen before serving is that even relevant?
I have no one to go with me to a sushi restaurant. I am certainly not going to drive downtown to plonk myself down, all alone, in a sushi place full of young hipster types out on dates. Much less try to chat up the chefs…The sushi in the grocery store here is made right there by sushi chefs, and every type I have tried from the huge counter has been delicious and fresh (though I don’t care for the brown rice. Ick. Is it SO much ‘healthier’??) … The grocery store sushi is much better than the dried out selection on the table at the chinese buffet restaurant. Last time I was there, the young guy behind the sushi counter kept bringing me, unasked, samples to try! I think he was expecting a big tip or something. I didn’t care for his offerings.
If it’s spicy you’re looking for you’re better off with rolls than nigiri. Every sushi restaurant I’ve been to has everything from small and simple spicy tuna rolls to more complex rolls with multiple ingredients and drizzled with one or more spicy sauces.
The first step to enjoying sushi is trying it. The final step is ignoring everyone else’s opinions on sushi.
QFT. Sushi snobs are right up there with wine snobs and audiophiles. If you like grocery store sushi, eat and enjoy. You don’t need anybody to validate your choices, least of all anybody here.
I find that sushi restaurants are one of the few places I can go along and feel fairly comfortable - eating at the sushi bar in a regular sushi place is one place where flying solo isn’t that unusual or awkward. And the sushi there will normally be a step up. It’s worth trying at least once to get a sense of the difference; if its not that noticeable, then that’s great!
Thanks for all the responses !
To be more clear, I said in the OP that sushi was blander than I expected but I didn’t mean to say that it was completely flavorless. I am most familiar with fresh water fish and expected a stronger fishy taste. As mentioned above, I think the fish itself is just a more delicate flavor than I expected.
I tried a new platter tonight. The printed label said “Chef’s Sampler” and the hand written label was “Salmon, Tuna and Crab”. Most of it was the same stuff I’ve been getting but there was one new thing. A small bowl with chopped bits of fish on top, rice, a green veg that may have been asparagus and at the bottom a bright green grass-like veg which was quite tangy. What might that have been?
The printed ingredient list doesn’t seem to helpful, I think it lists any item you may encounter in any of their dishes. In the evening there’s no one on duty, just platters made up earlier so no one to ask. Didn’t find the green grassy stuff till I ate my way to the bottom of the bowl anyway.
I noticed some of the platters came with sweet chile sauce so my beloved Huy Fong Chili Garlic Sauce doesn’t seem too crazy. I’ve been eating the fish separately to get the taste and using the soy sauce and other condiments on the rice and vegetables.
This thread has made me much more confident should I find my way into a"proper" sushi bar.
Thanks again.
Sounds like seaweed.
I agree. Seaweed salad.
River Hippie, if you WANT fishy, I suggest ordering mackerel (saba) at a sushi bar. (They’re not going to have it at an American supermarket.) Personally, I love it. But I also like to eat anchovies straight out of the can.
If you prefer milder fish, start with:
tuna
yellowtail
salmon
cooked shrimp
California rolls
eel
(Eel is usually served cooked and brushed with BBQ sauce. It doesn’t taste like fish at all.)
Having now read the Wikipedia page on sushi the stuff I thought might be asparagus must be avocado.
OK-I’ve never heard of sushi made with brown rice. Wouldn’t that compete with the flavor of the fish?
To be precise, unagi (freshwater eel) is always cooked and served with a sweet barbecue sauce. Anago (saltwater eel) is not necessarily cooked.
It completely changes the taste and the texture. I wouldn’t say it competes with the flavor of the fish, but it doesn’t have the soft-sticky-gummy-tart-sweet quality of sushi rice.
I just realized that the fake grass that used to be served on our order disappeared a few years back. So, I guess the Chicago burbs aren’t as backwards as we used to be. Go us!
This might have been a Chirashi or Sashimi bowl - thats normally sliced fish by itself or with rice. It’s good if you prefer the fish by itself rather than with the rice with each piece.
I’ll add a recommendation for unagi like other people have mentioned - this is especially good when you get it at a restaurant fresh from the broiler. Not everyone is a big fan but I love it.
I don’t have anyone to go eat sushi with either, but that doesn’t stop me. I plunk myself down at the bar and greet the chef(s). No one cares if you are by yourself, and you don’t have to share! LOL!
I love that they sometimes give me a freebie sample, even if I sometimes don’t like it.
May favorite sashimi is salmon (sliced really thin) and octopus (taco). But it has to be really, really fresh (especially the taco). Salmon just melts in your mouth and the octopus is just crunchy enough to provide a perfect texture (not rubbery). AT least around here, the standard sashimi you get with a lunch plate is almost always ahi. Which is good, but not up to par with salmon. I’ll gladly pay a little extra to substitute if hey allow it.
This may sound like “Crazy American”, but I always ask for low sodium soy sauce. Regular is jut too salty for me.
Tacos are the Mexican tortilla dish, Tako is the Japanese octopus :).