Sushi (4)

Toppings and fillings

• Fish

For culinary, sanitary, and aesthetic reasons, fish eaten raw must be fresher and of higher quality than
fish which is cooked. Professional sushi chefs are trained to recognize good fish.
Important attributes include smells, colour, firmness, and being free of obvious parasites that normal commercial inspection do not detect (many go undetected). Commonly-used fish are tuna (maguro, chūtoro, shiro-maguro, toro), Japanese amberjack, yellowtail (hamachi), snapper (kurodai), conger (hamo), mackerel (saba), salmon (sake), and eel (anago and unagi). The most valued sushi ingredient is toro, the fatty cut of tuna. This comes in a variety of ōtoro (often from the bluefin species of tuna) and chūtoro, meaning middle toro, implying that it is halfway into the fattiness between toro and regular red tuna (maguro). Aburi style refers to nigiri sushi where the fish is partially grilled (topside) and partially raw. Most nigiri sushi will be completely raw. A common misconception of yellowtail is that it is a member of the tuna family. Yellowfin tuna is a type of tuna; yellowtail (hamachi) is actually a member of the jack family.

Seafood

Other seafoods such as squid (ika), octopus
(tako), shrimp (ebi and amaebi), clam (mirugai, aoyagi and akagi), fish roe
(ikura, masago, kazunoko and tobiko), sea urchin (uni), crab (kani), and various
kinds of shellfish (abalone, prawn, scallop) are the most popular seafoods in
sushi. Oysters, however, are not typically put in sushi because the taste is not
thought to go well with the rice. However, some sushi restaurants in New Orleans
are known to serve Fried Oyster Rolls and Crawfish rolls. Kani kama, or
imitation crab stick, is a common ingredient used by many sushi bars in place of
real snow crab. Kani kama is almost always the main ingredient of California
rolls, and is a common filler in crab mix.

• Vegetables

Pickled daikon radish
(takuan) in shinko maki, pickled vegetables (tsukemono), fermented soybeans
(nattō) in nattō maki, avocado, cucumber in kappa maki, asparagus, yam, pickled
ume (umeboshi), gourd (kanpyō), burdock (gobo), and sweet corn may be mixed with
mayonnaise.

• Red meat

Beef, ham, spam, sausage, and horse meat are
often lightly cooked. Note: It is a common misconception that in Hawaii, fried
Spam is a popular local variation for sushi. In reality, Spam musubi differs
from sushi in that its rice lacks the vinegar required to classify it. Spam
musubi is correctly classified as onigiri.

• Other fillings

Tofu and eggs (in the form of slightly
sweet, layered omelet called tamagoyaki and raw quail eggs ride as a gunkan-maki
topping) are common.

Condiments

• Shōyu

The common name for soy sauce. In sushi restaurants, it may
also be referred to as murasaki (lit. "purple").

• Wasabi

A piquant paste made from the grated root of the wasabi plant. Real wasabi
(hon-wasabi) is Wasabi japonica. Hon-wasabi has anti-microbial properties and
may reduce the risk of food poisoning. The traditional grating tool for wasabi
is a sharkskin grater or samegawa oroshi. An imitation wasabi (seiyo-wasabi),
made from horseradish and mustard powder and dyed green is common. It is found
at lower-end kaiten zushi restaurants, in bento box sushi and at most
restaurants outside of Japan. If it is manufactured in Japan, it may be labelled
"Japanese Horseradish". In sushi restaurants, wasabi may be referred to as
namida ("tears").

• Gari

Sweet, pickled ginger. Eaten to both cleanse the palate as well as to aid in the
digestive process.

• Ocha

In Japan, green tea (ocha) is invariably served together with sushi. Better
sushi restaurants often use a distinctive premium tea known as mecha. In sushi
vocabulary, green tea is known as agari.

Nutritional information

The main ingredients of sushi, raw fish and rice are naturally low in fat (with the exception of some rolls, especially Western style rolls), high in protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals. Specifically:

• Fats: Most seafood are naturally low in fat; and what fat is found in them is generally rich in unsaturated fat Omega-3. Since sushi is often served raw, no fat is introduced in its preparation.
• Proteins: Fish, tofu, seafood, egg, and many other sushi fillings contain high levels of protein.
• Vitamins and Minerals: These are found in many of the vegetables used for sushi. For example, the gari and nori used to make sushi are both rich in nutrients. Other vegetables wrapped within the sushi also offer various degrees of nutritional value.
• Carbohydrates: These are found in the rice and the vegetables.

Health risks

Some fish such as tuna, especially bluefin, can carry high levels of mercury and can be hazardous when consumed in large quantities. As of January 2008, quite a few New York City restaurants offer tuna sushi with high enough concentration of mercury that a weekly reference dose is contained in 2−6 pieces, depending on the amount of tuna in the sushi and the person's weight.
Consuming raw or undercooked seafood presents the risk of anisakiasis. Uncooked seafood also often carries the bacterium Vibrio parahaemolyticus, which can cause diarrhea. Also, sushi carries the risk of transmitting parisitic infection and other pathogens. In addition, some forms of sushi notably puffer, can cause severe poisining if not prepared properly. Sushi is usually eaten with salty condiments such as soy sauce, which are added by the diner in whatever quantity is desired. Those with hypertension or renal disorders must take care not to eat too much salt inadvertently by overusing such condiments.

Presentation

In Japan, and increasingly abroad, conveyor belt sushi/sushi train (kaiten zushi) restaurants are a popular, cost effective way of eating sushi. At these restaurants, the sushi is served on color-coded plates, with each color denoting the cost of the sushi serving. The plates are placed on a conveyor belt or boats floating in a moat. As the belt or boat passes, the customers choose their desired plates. After finishing, the bill is tallied by counting how many plates of each color have been taken. Some kaiten sushi restaurants in Japan operate on a fixed price system, with each plate, consisting usually of two pieces of sushi, generally costing between ¥100 and ¥200.

More traditionally, sushi is served on minimalist Japanese-style, geometric, wood or lacquer plates which are mono- or duo-tone in color, in keeping with the aesthetic qualities of this cuisine. Many small sushi restaurants actually use no plates — the sushi is eaten directly off of the wooden counter, usually with one's hands.
Modern fusion presentation has given sushi a European sensibility, taking Japanese minimalism and garnishing it with Western gestures such as the colorful arrangement of edible ingredients, the use of differently flavored sauces, and the mixing of foreign flavors. Highly suggestive of French cuisine, this deviates somewhat from the more traditional, austere style of Japanese sushi.
Recently, sushi chefs have begun to create sushi art, a movement purportedly pioneered by chef Ken Kawasumi. At the release of one of his books, Kawasami, who has written guides on the art of sushi, recreated the famous Sunflowers painting by Vincent van Gogh using sushi as a medium.

Etiquette

Sushi can be eaten either by hand or using chopsticks, although traditionally nigiri is eaten with the fingers because the rice is packed loosely so as to fall apart in one's mouth, and would disintegrate on chopsticks. Condiments (soy sauce, wasabi, and pickled ginger) are used as desired.
As one connoisseur counsels, "adding wasabi to soy sauce is a disaster. It reduces the spiciness dramatically and masks the taste of the fish."
Many sushi restaurants offer fixed-price sets, selected by the chef from the catch of the day. These are often graded as shō-chiku-bai (松竹梅), shō/matsu (松, pine), chiku/take (竹, bamboo) and bai/ume (梅, ume), with matsu the most expensive and ume the cheapest. The house soy sauce is often diluted with dashi, a broth made from fish flakes and kelp.
In Japan, staff in sushi restaurants often employ a complex code-like vocabulary, where alternate words are substituted for common items. For example, egg is called gyoku ("jewel"), rice is called shari (Buddha's bones), soy sauce is called murasaki ("purple") and the bill is known as o-aiso ("courtesy", "compliment"). The code words vary from place to place and often evolve locally to incorporate puns: for example, shako might be called garēji (garage), because the Japanese word shako can also refer to a vehicle depot. These terms would not be used, or even understood, in other contexts, but regular patrons may pick up and use this specialized terminology themselves while dining in the restaurant.