The Anime Blog

The sushi craze, like anime, is starting to enter America’s mainstream media conscious. For those lucky enough to live on the West coast (nyyyyyya, you lucky ducks) this is nothing new. For those anime fans just starting their Japanese culture, Journey of Discovery, sushi can seem daunting and intimidating.

I, personally, love sushi, but I’m by no means a sushi connoisseur. I’ve lived in the Midwest for the past 18 years, well away from coastlines and any hope of fresh ocean offerings or a chance to become well acquainted with quality sushi. That doesn’t necessarily mean I’m clueless on the subject, however.

In fact, I’ve done my best to research the subject academically if not gastronomically. I think I’m informed enough to at least know the etiquette when I sit down in front of a sushi bar. Hell, maybe I know enough now to be able to tell which sushi establishments to avoid and which to patronize.

If there’s one thing I’m decent at, it’s researching history. So even if my practical sushi bar knowledge fails, at least I might be able to save some face by reciting the little bit ‘o sushi history I know.

The litmus test for any of my supposed “sushi IQ” would be to go to a place where there’s an abundance of quality sushi bars and see if I can order a decent meal without looking like a dumbass newbie gaijin.

What about you? What’s your sushi IQ? Think you can order for your crew and impress your friends with your abundance of sushi fun facts and proper etiquette? Or are you just a poser who thinks a spider roll is as daring as sushi gets? What’s your sushi IQ? Take the quiz I created below and check to see if you’re a sushi genius or a nori n00b!

(Answers and actual sushi historical facts given are below the quiz. The quiz is off site but come back to rate your score and see how you did!!! No peeking until you’re done!)

Rate Your Score!!!

• 100-90%= Sugoi!! You’re all set to start a five year sushi apprenticeship!
• 89-80%= Yatta! Hey, you sure know you’re way around the sushi bar!
• 79-60%= Genki. Not bad. You can impress the local gaijin with that sushi IQ.
• 59-40%= Ma-ma. You should bone up on your sushi knowledge some more before you go out to the sushi bar.
• Below 40%= Baka! Don’t go to a sushi bar alone…seriously. I fear for your safety!

Answers and Trivia

1.) False and how! Omakase literally means “to entrust”. When you order omakase, you’re telling the sushi chef that you’re leaving the sushi selection, and price, up to him. Often times you won’t get screwed, but you’re taking a risk, nonetheless that the fish is as good as he touts it to be and that you’ll be getting a decent price.

2.) True! According to Trevor Corson in an interview on NPR about his new book, the Zen of Fish, sushi was once outlawed. Conservatives had taken over the government and were rounding up anything that led to moral corruption and banning it. Elaborate sushi boxes were presented to public officials as bribes, hence why they landed on the no-no list. Eventually, the conservatives were ousted and sushi came back as Japan’s fave curb side treat.

3.) False. Tipping isn’t done in Japan; the gratuity is already built into the bill. If the sushi chef is impressing you, buy him a beer or some sake. In the US however, things get sticky. Do tip the waiting staff 20% since it gets divied up amongst them and the kitchen staff. Some say to tip the sushi chef separately but that decision is up to you.

4.) Fallllse! Careful! Fugu is the meat from the uber deadly blowfish. It takes a sushi apprentice three years before they can even test to handle fugu. Ill prepared fugu can kill a healthy adult within a half hour. Also, if you do eat fugu, consider it a stand alone meal. Even well prepared fugu has minute amounts of toxins that will leave your mouth and tongue tingly and numb.

5.) False! Back in the day when sushi was just catching on, the fatty underbelly of the tuna was considered unfit for human consumption.

6.) False. Sushi was invented as a way of preserving fish by people who lived inland, away from coasts and a supply of fresh fish.

7.) False. It’s actually pretty damn rude to smear a ton of wasabi on your sushi. The sushi chef already put some wasabi on the sushi. If you loves the wasabi that much, ask the chef to put a lil’ extra on while he’s making your sushi. Otherwise, you’re kinda sorta insulting the guy’s talent as a sushi chef.

8.) False. The majority of Japanese eat miso as an accompaniment to the meal or at the end to aid digestion.

9.) False. Women face discrimination as sushi chefs since they’re believed to be inferior at making it. One reason given is that women have warmer hands than men and that they will inadvertently cook the fish with their warmer body temp. Pffffft. Whadda crock.

10.) False. While many Japanese do make sushi at home, it’s usually not the difficult-to-do-right variety, nigiri but a variety called chirashizushi, or “scattered sushi”.

11.) False. Avocados have only been used in sushi for as long as the California roll’s been around.

12.) True. Sushi rice is a special Japanese rice variety that’s been seasoned with rice vinegar, sugar, salt, and kombu.

13.) False. Sashimi is raw fish served alone on a dish with soy sauce and wasabi as condiments.

14.) True. Passing anything between chopsticks is a faux pas due to certain funeral rites that involve passing bones between chopsticks.

15.) False. Nigiri is the most popular form of sushi in Japan.

16.) True. In trying to market sushi to finicky, unadventurous Americans, early Japanese- Americans pioneered such offerings as the inside-out roll and the California roll to appeal to Western appetites.

17.) False. Once you pick your sushi up, don’t put it back on your plate! Try and eat it in one go. If the piece is too big, ask the chef to cut it in two. It’s perfectly acceptable to do so.

18.) True. Eaten on the go and taken on outings, sushi has become the KFC of Japan.

19.) False. Another faux pas is to mix the two together to create a wasabi mess. Mixing the wasabi with the soy deadens the potency of the wasabi and might lead to people overdosing on soy, which will “kill” the sushi.

20.) False. Itamae are the sushi chefs! So smacking ‘em on the ass like you would a waitress at a “regular” bar probably won’t score you any points.

21.) True. Nigiri and maki are fine to eat with your digits but it’s best to use your hashi (chopsticks) to handle your sashimi.

22.) False. Good sushi always starts with the rice!

23.) False. Unagi is best when it’s grilled and coated with a ‘nummy sauce.

24.) False. Real wasabi (hon wasabi) is actually related to the cabbage family and is pricey. Most wasabi served in sushi bars is imitation wasabi (seiyo’o- wasabi), which is a mixture of horseradish, hot mustard, and spirulina.

25.) True. A good chef likes to hear exactly what his customers want. It’s also part of the experience to sit at the bar and talk to the guy as he works his mojo.

26.) True. Half the points in good sushi go to taste, the other half go to presentation. Good sushi chefs believe that food should look as good as it tastes. If the chef doesn’t give a damn about how the sushi looks, chances are pretty high he won’t give much consideration to flavor, either.

27.) False! The soy sauce is there to season the fish, not the rice. Dip the nigiri in the sauce fish-side down and then, only lightly. Eat the nigiri fish side down as well.

28.) True. And living in the Midwest has been ample proof of that. Being landlocked, we can’t get the freshest fish. It takes a looong time, by fresh fish standards, to ship fish here economically. Sometimes, buying frozen is actually safer, and “fresher” than unfrozen, fresh fish.

29.) False. Traditionally, sushi has been eaten, standing up, on the side of a road. Moving the sushi kiosk inside a building is a fairly recent development.

30.) False. Sushi hit the states back around when Japanese immigrants did; in the late 1800’s early 1900’s. The sushi boom hit at the beginning of 1960’s and has continued to grow to this day.