Why should you practice good sushi etiquette?
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Eor the following reasons:
to avoid intercultural embarrassment and civil
strife, to get snappy service, and to impress
the people they make company with. |
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The Tools
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At some of the higher end
restaurants the waiter/waitress will provide
you with a hot towel at the beginning of the
meal. It usually comes in a little basket. Use
it to wipe your hands clean before the meal,
remember sushi is finger food. When finished
place it back in it's basket and someone will
take it out of your way. Don't worry, you'll
also get a napkin for your lap. They're not
toothpicks or drumsticks, they're chopsticks.
Don't poke or beat things with them. Actually
the real name for chopsticks is hashi. Impress
the staff by asking for them by their rightful
name. Hashi sometimes come as conjoined twins.
Break them apart delicately, and rub them across
each other to remove any burrs before you eat.
(A burr is a splinter that has not yet left
its mother wood and imbedded itself in your
flesh) Some sushi chefs find this offensive,
especially in Japan. It may imply that you think
the owner is cheap.
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How To Use Chopsticks |
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Think of the chopstick
as a pair of prongs, the only difference being
that there are two separate parts or sticks.
One stick is held in stationary position and
the other is moved. |
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1.
Take one stick first and hold it in your
right hand in the way you would normally
hold a pencil. If the stick has a thick
and a thin end, hold it so that the thick
end is to the top. |
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2.
Keeping the fingers in this position,
turn your hand inward until the stick
is horizontal to the table and parallel
to your body. |
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3.
Relax your fingers slightly and slide
the stick to the left until your thumb
and forefinger are clamping the stick
at about its mid-point. The thumb should
not be bent or rigidly straight. All your
fingers should be curved slightly inwards
with the middle finger in contact with
the underside of the stick and the tip
of the middle finger pointing towards
your body. The third (ring) finger should
be in line with the middle finger but
its tip should protrude beyond the middle
finger towards your body. |
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4.
Now, take the other stick with your left
hand and let the thick end rest on the
protruding part of the ring finger of
your right hand. Slide the stick towards
the right, touching the tip of the middle
finger and passing under the thumb until
the thick end rests at the base joint
of your forefinger. This is the stationary
position of this stick, and it should
be roughly parallel to the first stick.
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5.
Alternately bend and extend your forefinger
and middle finger, letting the first stick
PIVOT at the thumb. The thin tip of the
moving stick will touch that of the stationary
stick when you bend the two fingers. Don't
hold the sticks rigidly. Hardly any pressure
or strength is needed to grasp things
at the tip of the chopsticks. |
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Those Crazy Little Plates and Stuff |
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There will be a small ceramic
block called a hashi oki on which to set your
hashi when not in use. To the right of your
place setting, there will be a small oblong
ceramic saucer which will hold the soy sauce,
or shoyu. DO NOT pour the shoyu straight from
the jug onto your sushi. Pour the shoyu into
its proper saucer - a small oblong dish called
a kozara - and dip the sushi into it. |
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Make
sure you have all your sushi etiquette in
order by following this great guide! |
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The Soup |
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With Miso Soup (misoshiru)
or Clear Broth (suimono), you may use your chopsticks
to pick out the solid pieces. Feel free to drink
the soup as you would a cup of tea. Slurping
noises are not considered bad manners, so have
at it. |
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The Condiments |
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The thinly-sliced pink
ginger on your plate is called gari. Eat just
a slice between pieces of sushi to re-enliven
your palate. The shredded white radish, called
daikon, is for cleansing your palate between
different orders. Wasabi is the little green
chunk of horseradish paste that some often mix
with shoyu as a sauce for dipping sushi. If
you aren't used to eating wasabi, be forewarned:
when eaten full strength, it has an electric
effect on the sinuses that can make a strong
man weep openly. |
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Passing sushi and sashimi |
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NEVER pass sushi to another
diner using your hashi. Pass them the plate
so they can pick it up themselves. Always pick
the sushi up off the plate with the other end
of the hashi - the end that doesn't go in your
mouth. And of course, never yell "go long!"
or "incoming!" and then huck sushi
across the table. |
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Eating sushi and sashimi |
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Pick up the sushi, turn
and dip the fish part, not the rice, into the
soy sauce-wasabi mixture, and put the whole
portion in your mouth, flipping the sushi so
that the fish is on your tongue. NEVER bite
a piece of sushi in half and put half back on
your plate. Always eat the whole thing. And
one special note - never leave rice after a
meal. It's considered rude to leave food after
a meal, but leaving rice is considered especially
rude. Sushi is finger food. It's okay to pick
it up with your hands if you like. Sashimi,
however, is not. Only use your hashi to eat
sashimi. |
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Sushi bar etiquette |
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NEVER smoke in a sushi
bar, even if there is an ashtray provided. I
know, it sounds crazy, but think about it: smoke
will interfere with the flavor of everyone's
sushi. Therefore, to smoke is to be disrespectful
to the chef's work. You may be feeling gregarious
after a few shots of sake. If so, offer a drink
to your sushi chef. He doesn't expect it, but
if you have a drink with him, he will toast
with Kampai! (to your health). |
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Final nuggets |
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Never expect the chef to
handle money. Those who handle food do not handle
money. This rule will make perfect sense to
you if you've ever been to a strip club. Even
though some of these rules may seem extreme
to Westerners, remember that your hosts will
probably not call any breach of etiquette to
your attention. To do so would be considered
rude. |
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