Food Spotlight: Sushi and sashimi

As you probably know, sushi and sashimi are raw fish and seafood. Sushi is with rice, sashimi without. Sushi often comes on little pieces of rice, with a dab of wasabi between the fish and the rice. Sometimes the sushi will have a bit of nori (seaweed) wrapping it, or 'tying' it to the rice. 

You usually eat sashimi by dipping it into soy sauce, which many people add wasabi to. (I am not one of those people. To me, eating wasabi is about as enjoyable as snorting tabasco sauce.)

Some common types of sushi/sashimi are raw tuna, salmon, snapper, sea bream, etc, as well as raw shrimp, squid, fish eggs, sea urchin, octopus. Also tamagoyaki (pieces of omelette). 

You can also get makizushi - sushi rolls - which is the kind of sushi we most often see in delis etc in Australia. There are other variants too, like inarizushi (sushi wrapped in fried tofu), chirashizushi (sushi rice topped with a mix of various things - often has several different types of sushi, in small pieces, mixed in), sushi salads, etc. 

 

You can get sushi and sashimi in many places and forms. The fish section of any supermarket will usually have a decent selection of both; you can go to a sushi restaurant, you can order sushi from most izakayas and many Japanese restaurants, or you can go to a kaiten-zushi (sushi train) restaurant. Sushi often comes on a tray with a selection of several different kinds.

Me, failing to pick up some sushi. 

That picture was taken is in a restaurant in Tsukiji, the famous Tokyo fish market. It's the best place in Tokyo for fresh sushi.

I often talk about food with Japanese people. About 90% of them say their favourite food is sushi. It seems to be the most popular food in Japan. People always seem in the mood for it. If there's a gathering somewhere, there's a good chance sushi will be ordered at some point. I've had it at numerous parties and picnics, despite having never voluntarily ordered it myself. 

Personally, I do my best to avoid sushi where possible. That's why after all this time, I still can't recognise all the different fish. I'm happy to eat fish sashimi without wasabi, but some of the others...! Raw octopus is very difficult to chew, and as for sea urchin, I think it takes a special kind of person to appreciate it (read: a person without a gag reflex).

(...Actually, I wrote that as a joke, but according to Wikipedia, up to 1/3 of people don't have a gag reflex. And my impression is that about a third of foreigners who try sea urchin, like it. I could be onto something here.)

Fish and seafood in general are very popular in Japan, and being an island nation, there are a lot of places, near coasts, which are famous for various types of seafood, especially raw seafood. I think it's fair to say that sushi is really the most Japanese of dishes.