My name is Tim

How To Get Good Sushi
8.23.2009 - 11:03 AM - Joel - 3 comments

Here are a few tips for enjoying sushi, provided by the internet. Apparently, sushi chefs are a pretty cagey bunch who don't like to give good sushi to ordinary people. They reserve their best sushi for the the sushi snobs/connoisseurs. So, here are the tips provided by the internet:

Eat rolls sparingly. If you order a roll, then the sushi chef will assume that you are a noob and will give you subpar sushi. This is akin to a drug dealer selling bags of oregano to high school kids.
Order something other than Tuna or Salmon. Salmon and Tuna are delicious. They also make you look like an amateur. Ordering octopus or eel will show the chef that you are a discerning customer.
Sit at the bar and talk to the chef. It there is one thing that the chef loves, it's talking shop with customers. Consider this quotation:
In Japanese culture, the sushi chef is not just a guy with a knife - he's your gastronomical navigator in unpredictable waters.
Order omakase. This means that the sushi chef chooses for you. It is EXTREMELY sophisticated to do this. The chef will recognize this and reward you with some of the best sushi from his secret stash.
Use soy sauce sparingly (and call it 'shoyu'). The internet says that, "This is the ultimate faux pas in the eyes of the chef and is a truly unforgivable sin." If you put soy sauce (shoyu) on your sushi, you are blacklisted and will be getting shwag every time you return to the restaurant.
Don't mix wasabi in your shoyu. By adding wasabi, you are telling the sushi chef that you hate him. Avoid this.
Eat the sushi upside down. This way, you taste the fish before the rice. Also, it's sort of a stunt. Dude! Check it out, he totally flipped that diggy before he ate it!
Eat with your hands. It has to do with culture and stuff.

It's a strange business model: give subpar food to the majority of your clients, and save the best for the people who come into your restaurant all the time.

In conclusion, your sushi chef is always judging you.

Disclosure: I tried to load pictures onto this, but it took forever. Tim, I don't know what i'm doing wrong.

Questions for discussion:

Are you ashamed because you like California Rolls?
Would you be willing to eat octopus sushi if it raised your standing with the sushi chef?
Which sort of snob would you like to be? Sushi snob? Music snob? Some other kind of snob?

3 Comments:

Danny and Betsy said...: Timmy...I only know how to order omakase...learned that a couple of years ago with a japanese buddy of mine. it is the only way.; 1:50 PM
kelley said...: I once witnessed the customers at the bar buying the sushi chef numerous shots of sake in addition to taking a "smoke break" with the chef. He came back in a significantly better mood and with a faint sweet smell. They continued to get significantly better service.; 9:53 PM
Physcokity said...: I'm already a water snob.; 10:18 AM