Do you have sushi etiquette?
Some may say that they know the proper etiquette when eating sushi but according to Chef Keiichi Masuda, owner and chef at Mikado restaurant on Laird Dr. in Leaside, many common and tasteless mistakes are made by people everyday. He says that it is not the customer’s fault of not knowing the finer points of sushi etiquette, most people are unaware and the nes that do care are usually sushi chefs.
In an interview with thestar.com, located in Toronto, Masuda recounted a story, “About five years ago, he gently suggested to a sushi-bar customer that she shouldn’t dip the nigiri into the soy rice-side down, and that she was using too much sauce. The lady got mad and never came back.”
Masuda created these one-page handouts on sushi etiquette are scattered about the restaurant and inserted inside each menu.
Masuda states, “That he does not want to push too many Japanese customs, but the main thing is, the customer enjoys my food.”
CHOPSTICKS DOS AND DON’TS, by Hiro Yoshida, owner of Hiro Sushi:
Do not rub chopsticks together vigorously in an attempt to sand them down and remove any splinters. Better to remove any wisps of bamboo with your fingers or, better yet, ask for a new pair.
When not eating with chopsticks, place them on the chopstick rest, which at Hiro Sushi is a peanut in a shell (a nod to Chiba, the region where Hiro Yoshida grew up). Do not rest them on the side of the soy sauce dish.
Do not leave chopsticks standing straight up in a bowl of rice. It too closely resembles the incense burned at funerals.
Do not pass food to someone else’s plate with the end of the chopsticks you ate from. Turn them around and use the square end.
Don’t hang chopsticks out of the mouth.
Decide what you want to eat from a sushi plate before you pick it up. It is rude to hover above the plate, moving the chopsticks around indecisively.
The chopsticks should be held close to the top, particularly by women, since it makes their fingers and hands look more elegant.
Never point with chopsticks.
If eating in the style of the samurai, you would never allow more than the first inch of the chopsticks to enter your mouth.
Now I think you are sushi savvy….Go out and enjoy!!!
Arigato gozaimasu. (Thank you very much.)
Hi, interest post. I’ll write you later about few questions!