Sushi
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
Sushi is a Japanese dish usually made of raw salmon, rice, and seasoned seaweed rolled into a tube about five centimeters or so in diameter, cut into two centimeter pieces, and served cold. Other ingredients are sometimes added, like eel, cucumber, carrot, shrimp, octopus, sesmame seeds, caviar, crab and other things that you'd think would probably make you sick unless you've actually had them before.
Eating Sushi and its companions:
In polite Japanese society, Sushi is eaten with chopsticks
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but unless you are in Japan, or with Japanese company go ahead and use your fingers. Sushi is meant to be savored, but taking small bites can make one look stupid, so don't be afraid to put the whole thing in your mouth, just be sure you really taste it before swallowing. Also there are usually Wasabe, Ginger, and Soy served with the dish. Wasabe (Wa-sa-BAY) is green Japanese horseradish paste. Unless you have a high tolerance for spicy food, or desire to see you tongue leap out of your left nostril in writhing agony, it is not recommended for the beginner. Wasabe is sometimes diluted in the Soy sauce, a strong bittersweet black liquid in a shallow dish for dipping. Between pieces of Sushi, be sure to have a bit of the Ginger. Ginger is an indescribable item, with the color of pork, the texture of a steamed carrot and a taste that should not be spoken of. Take heart however, for only one small piece need be eaten to cleanse the pallet for the next piece of sushi.
How to make sushi:
You'll need to make some rice, about two or three cups. Cook until sticky and chill until cold.Buy some nori (spiced seaweed) at your local Asian food store. A sheet about a foot square if possible.
Cut some raw salmon into quarter-inch raw strips.
Wet the nori with a spray bottle (ideally) until leathery, pat the rice down on one end of the sheet, and place the salmon in strips along the rice.
Add some cucumber, crab, or any other raw ingredients you might like.
Roll the sheet into a cylinder, and cut into peices.
Enjoy!
"Chopsticks" is slightly derogatory and rude. Like calling a fork a "grubstick." Say "Hashi" (Ha-SHE) instead.