Sushi etiquette

[prasantrin]

FIRST OF ALL, I'D LIKE TO STRESS THAT THERE IS NO CONSENSUS IN JAPAN AS TO THE PROPER WAY TO EAT SUSHI.

It's up to you whether to use your hands or chopsticks to have nigiri.  I personally prefer using chopsticks so I don't have to clean my hands with a wet towel (oshibori) frequently.

The proper and correct way to eat sushi is with your hands and to use your chopsticks for sashimi. Steve himself has said this, and he's a writing a book about asian dining.

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You'd take Steve's word over a Japanese person born and bred in Japan?

I live in Japan, and I'd agree with Hiroyuki. Ask a wide-assortment of Japanese people, and you'll hear a wide assortment of answers. There is no consensus. Not only that, but if eating sushi with your hands were the most "propper and correct way", you can bet most Japanese people (especially women) would be eating it that way, and they don't.

Edited July 11, 2008 by prasantrin (log)

[Hiroyuki]

Another etiquette question:

When you go sit at the sushi bar and the prices listed on the wall are market prices, what's the proper way to find out how much those items are that day? Or, are you supposed to take a blind leap and hope it doesn't end up costing more than you'd have wanted to pay?

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Well, there can be no proper way. Some people are blunt while others are more tactful. For example, the latter people may start asking what are in season.

[Fat Guy]

Everyone should feel free to disagree with anything I have actually said on the subject of eating sushi with the hands. Remember, in that topic a member in North America was saying he gets strange looks when he eats sushi with his hands.

I do believe eating sushi with the hands is the better approach, and as an empirical matter the sushi chefs I've spoken to (Japanese sushi chefs working in North America, mostly) unanimously agree. I've never seen a sushi chef, from anywhere in the world, quoted as saying chopsticks are the superior method. At the same time, I'm aware that plenty of Japanese people prefer to use chopsticks.

As for my book, which will be out in October, this is what it says on the subject:

It’s entirely acceptable etiquette in Japan to pick up sushi with your (washed) hands. Go ahead. It’s okay. If you do choose to use chopsticks, however, here’s a good trick: tip each piece of sushi on its side before picking it up. That way, the chopsticks will be pinching the fish against the rice, ensuring that the piece won’t fall apart.

(Thanks Hiroyuki for the side trick.)

[RAHiggins1]

I do that, I roll the Nigiri to its side and pick it up with my chopsticks. I use chopsticks because the rice is sticky and will stick to your hand.

I had read/seen somewhere a long time ago in the early 90's that Sushi was eaten originally by hand and that Maki sushi (rolls) were invented as a necessity to serve sushi at card games where the player did not wish to get the sticky rice all over the cards. I doubt I could prove this, its just what I had read/seen somewhere.

As a side note I had the most wonderful Hamachi (yellowtail, also my favorite) the other night, there was so much flavor. I had not eaten at an actual sushi bar in awhile and had been getting my sushi fixes at the asian buffet at lunch. I can attest that the quality was far superior. I've decided to not eat buffet sushi anymore as it now all tastes the same to me, unrecognizable, indistinguishable. I had thought my palate was not picking up subtle nuances between the different types of fish. It turns out that the other sushi just sucked, at the sushi bar the flavors were slapping me in the face, what a reality check.

[Sugarella]

What a great thread.... very informative, to say the least.

I did once read a sushi etiquette book from the library (don't have it anymore and the title and author escapes me, sorry) which commented on eating sushi with hands versus eating with chopsticks. The author equated sushi with chicken legs or pizza or ribs as eaten in north america..... with the hands is perfectly acceptable, unless you're in a formal setting, then a knife and fork is required. So I guess it all depends on how pedestrian you consider yourself. I know construction workers and the like in Japan eat rice right out of their bento box by making a scoop with their index and middle finger. Depends on the company you're in, I guess.

I think part of the reason eating it with the hands in north america is considered a taboo is, well, have you ever seen the average person do it??!!! They usually end up with a soy soaked, rice riddled tablecloth after the first bite. Some 2 year olds are tidier eaters for cripes sake.

Just my 2 cents for what it's worth.

Edited for clarity.

Edited July 11, 2008 by Sugarella (log)

[Hiroyuki]

It's totally acceptable and even encouraging for someone to describe their preferred way to eat sushi, and why, but we should refrain from talking about a proper way to eat sushi because there is no such thing anywhere in the world.

In contrast, there is a proper way to use chopsticks and a proper way to place the three items on the table as I described here.

It should be noted that the proper way to use chopsticks differs from one Asian country to another.

[RedRum]

I don't get the chopstick thing...

I can use them very well, but I prefer to eat with knives and forks and spoons... I eat sushi with my hands. I will eat sashimi with chopsticks, but only because I cannot bother asking for a fork.

When I eat chinese, I don't feel very comfortable eating noodles and rice dishes with 2 pieces of stick... I know you are supposed to bring the bawl to your mouth and scoop it in, but this is not something that I have been brought up to do. I want to eajoy the food and flavours, and for me it is all about comfort.

I have quite a few asian friends and I have actually gained their respect for sticking to what I know of how to eat. I was talking with a waiter the other day, kinda apologising for asking a fork, and he told me that they actually prefer when people eat with forks as there is less mess to clean up...

I live in the UK by the way, where asian people are not that many (quite a few though here in Cambridge)

Is there are a real reason why it is imperative to eat asian food with chopsticks?

Edited July 12, 2008 by RedRum (log)

[RAHiggins1]

I don't get the chopstick thing...

I can use them very well, but I prefer to eat with knives and forks and spoons... I eat sushi with my hands. I will eat sashimi with chopsticks, but only because I cannot bother asking for a fork.

When I eat chinese, I don't feel very comfortable eating noodles and rice dishes with 2 pieces of stick... I know you are supposed to bring the bawl to your mouth and scoop it in, but this is not something that I have been brought up to do. I want to eajoy the food and flavours, and for me it is all about comfort.

I have quite a few asian friends and I have actually gained their respect for sticking to what I know of how to eat. I was talking with a waiter the other day, kinda apologising for asking a fork, and he told me that they actually prefer when people eat with forks as there is less mess to clean up...

I live in the UK by the way, where asian people are not that many (quite a few though here in Cambridge)

Is there are a real reason why it is imperative to eat asian food with chopsticks?

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No not really. It's mostly just trying to delve further into the culture you are experiencing. If you were to go to the middle east, would you eat wth your fingers from a communal bowl given the opportunity? I would.

Edited July 12, 2008 by RAHiggins1 (log)

[RedRum]

Of course I would. As I said, I eat sushi with my fingers, it is more comfortable. All I am saying is that I don't think eating asian food with a knife and fork should be frawned uppon.

There have been situations where I have been out with a company of both asian and non-asian friends in chinese restaurants, and the non-asian people were kinda telling me off for not eating with chopsticks.

Needless to say, it was myself and the asian people that were laughing when their expensive dresses, shirts and trousers were covered with delicious rice and other food...

[Dignan]

FIRST OF ALL, I'D LIKE TO STRESS THAT THERE IS NO CONSENSUS IN JAPAN AS TO THE PROPER WAY TO EAT SUSHI.

It's up to you whether to use your hands or chopsticks to have nigiri.  I personally prefer using chopsticks so I don't have to clean my hands with a wet towel (oshibori) frequently.

The proper and correct way to eat sushi is with your hands and to use your chopsticks for sashimi. Steve himself has said this, and he's a writing a book about asian dining.

Sushi is really about the rice, not the fish. And, the sushi master is trying to mold the sushi for this optimum mixture of rice and air so that it falls apart in your mouth. But, if you use chopsticks, then the sushi master must clump it harder so that it won't fall apart when you pick up with your chopsticks.

The way I see it, I'm already behind the eight ball as the sushi chef views me as just another gaijin. If I use chopsticks for sushi, then I'm singalling to him that I don't know anything about sushi and thus am unlikely to appreciate his craft. Its kind of like ordering spicy tuna. As such, a sushi master isn't going to give the best cuts to a gaijin who's using chopsticks and ordering spicy tuna.

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Well, I encourage you to visit Japan to determine what you have written above is true.

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No shit.

[Hiroyuki]

OK. So, who is going to be the one to settle this dispute once and for all by visiting Japan and going to three different types of sushi houses: high-end sushi shops like Kyubei and Sukiyabashi Jiro, the type of sushi shop frequented by locals, and conveyor sushi restaurants?

[Sugarella]

I think you've already settled it Hiroyuki! I think the fact that you were born there and lived there all your life gives you a little more authority over someone who may have visited once....

[prasantrin]

OK.  So, who is going to be the one to settle this dispute once and for all by visiting Japan and going  to three different types of sushi houses:  high-end sushi shops like Kyubei and Sukiyabashi Jiro, the type of sushi shop frequented by locals, and conveyor sushi restaurants?

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I'd do it! I think it would be fun. Except I don't really care for sushi that much (other than uni, ikura, and hotate, all of which I could eat all day every day), and only eat it once a year if that. And I might have to forego the kaitenzushi places, because I only like sushi if the fish is really good, and most kaitenzushi places don't use really good fish.

I don't remember ever seeing a Japanese person in Japan eating sushi with his or her hands, but I'm not sure why that is. I know it's acceptable, but I guess the people I hang with just prefer to use chopsticks. The last time I had sushi (which was Osaka-style rectangular sushi and some makizushi), I was the only one eating with my hands, and I only did that because I didn't want to waste the waribashi (plus I was too lazy to eat with chopsticks).

[Fat Guy]

I'm not sure what everybody thinks everybody else is claiming here, but I think it's pretty clear that the question of what most people in Japan do is not particularly relevant. Most people in Japan are not sushi connoisseurs. Drawing conclusions based on what the average Japanese person does is like drawing conclusions about French food from the fact that the average French person eats at McDonald's ("Every 12 months, one out of two French people visit McDonald's at least once.").

Instead we should be asking what sushi chefs and diners at the connoisseur level think. Here's an excerpt from Trevor Corson's "The Zen of Fish." It makes the case for using the hands. Again, note that Corson is not making the claim that everyone in Japan uses his or her hands to eat nigiri sushi. Rather, he's saying it's better and explaining why.

A good nigiri ought to fall apart in the mouth, so chefs prefer not to pack the rice too firmly. Most connoisseurs pick up sushi with their fingers, since chopsticks are likely to break apart a loosely-packed nigiri. Some people claim that chopsticks are preferable because the flavors of the different fish linger on their hands, preventing full appreciation of each separate topping. But most sushi bars provide each customer with a damp cloth, and wiping one’s fingers between each type of nigiri should be sufficient to keep the flavors separate.

.....

Chefs who see customers using chopsticks or dipping the rice side in the soy sauce will pack the nigiri more tightly than is ideal.

Now of course for conveyor-belt sushi, prepackaged sushi or sushi that comes from anywhere but a sushi bar, the key point about using the hands is moot. All sushi from those places is packed tight enough to eat with chopsticks. But if you're sitting at a serious sushi bar face-to-face with the sushi chef, I think hands are the way to go for the reason Corson states.

[prasantrin]

I'm not sure what everybody thinks everybody else is claiming here, but I think it's pretty clear that the question of what most people in Japan do is not particularly relevant. Most people in Japan are not sushi connoisseurs.

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Most people who eat sushi are not sushi connoisseurs. So what's the point of your point?

[Fat Guy]

My point is that eating good sushi with one's hands is the better way.

[Hest88]

I don't get the chopstick thing...

Heh, well as someone who would prefer eating salad with chopsticks if given her druthers, and who eats many Western foods at home with chopsticks, I'd just have to say that you summed it up when you said it all comes down to what may have grown up using.

To get back on topic...so I supposed the summation is that when one is at a high-quality sushi restaurant one should use one's fingers but it probably doesn't matter all that much if you're at a mid-level or lower sushi joint?

[JasonTrue]

I think the question was "what is the correct etiquette" (what is proper) rather than "what is better", and the latter certainly has a different answer.

The correct etiquette is rather undogmatic, other than customary Japanese expectations about behavior if one elects to use chopsticks (no licking, no stabbing, no wandering, no pointing and gesturing, no rubbing )

"Proper" has, perhaps, a more ambiguous meaning. But it's acceptable to do either; if you're obsessive, you'll see some culinary value in using your hands.

The authority of gourmets is not necessarily normative; plenty of Japanese prefer to dip tempura in ten-tsuyu than the more gourmet-approved salt, even if they know "better." Just as plenty of Japanese prefer to drink shochu or sake with sushi, even if a self-appointed set of sushi experts assert that beer is more suitable.

As one of my friends and colleagues has pointed out, it's often better to follow the lead of the people surrounding you when dining out in Japan, just to avoid making them uncomfortable. (You can see a brilliant, if slightly overplayed, example in Tampopo, when a fairly well-traveled young new employee embarrasses everyone by knowing the food better). It's one thing to be confident and authoritative, but even if you "know" better, it's not particularly welcomed in Japan to make a point of one's superior breeding either. (In Germany and the US, on the other hand, it's not at all unusual to argue with people at dinner about the correct way of enjoying something).

I'm guilty of judging what is "correct" or "best", but in point of fact, Japan is far more flexible about the manner in which one consumes food than the aristocratic tradition from which Western etiquette derives. The only real gaffes are old taboos that apply to almost all foods, mostly related to chopstick behavior.

In fact, although they can appear intimidating for a host, even the rules about placement of plates in Japanese cuisine are meant to make guests comfortable: the direction which chopsticks are placed on the table make them easier to pick up with your right hand, the location of the rice bowl and soup is to make the bowls easier to pick up, and the placement of other dishes all emerge from that pattern.

[RAHiggins1]

My point is that eating good sushi with one's hands is the better way.

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Would one even eat bad sushi?

[mcohen]

Would one even eat bad sushi?

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I would argue that any sushi will be not be good or as good as it could be if the inatame needs to mold the sushi so as a patron can pick them up with chopsticks. Remember, the thing that separates good and bad sushi is the rice. And, sushi rice should be molded just enough so that somebody can pick them up with their fingers and then fall apart in the mouth. But, once the inatame needs to mold the sushi rice firmly enough so that it won't fall apart when picked by chopsticks instead of by hand, then the sushi will no longer fall apart in the mouth as a proper piece of sushi should.

[JasonTrue]

You probably mean itamae (person in front of the board/plank aka chef) rather than inatame?

[helenjp]

I have to agree with Hiroyuki here - etiquette is always going to require that you keep at least half an eye on what everybody else is doing, especially if you are somebody's guest.

I recall encountering The Great Sushi Debate for the first time way back in the early '80s sometime, when it seemed that gourmet diners were out to convert the great unwashed...and they were encountering resistance to The Message even back then. If there's a consensus now, it is that there was never a time when either chopsticks or hands were 100% "correct".

My first mother in law gave me one of the popular books on Manners (the type of manners where you regard yourself as a disciple of the Such-and-such School), and not even that laid down an ultimate Law of Sushi.

I recall more people in Osaka eating nigiri with chopsticks, probably because nigiri is not basically a Kansai style, and most people eat rolled or pressed sushi wiith chopsticks. I think that hands are probably more popular in Kanto, even now.

Some people say that nigiri with hands derives from street-food service, while nigiri with chopsticks originated in sushi served as a light meal eaten at home or restaurant.

I might eat sushi with my hands in an owner-chef shop where the chef(s) are preparing the sushi right in front of me (especially at the counter)...but I can't recall seeing anybody eat with their hands at a conveyer-belt sushi shop. As for home-delivered sushi, you need to at least take your sushi with chopsticks, as they are not served individually, and they are packed in so tightly that you couldn't pick one up without your fingers touching your neighbor's share of sushi...

Women are much more likely to use chopsticks, and it is certainly rare to see a woman past her youthful glory eating nigiri with her hands nowadays, just as it was 20-30 years back.

Hard-to-see advertising pic, showing man eating nigiri with his hands, woman eating some type of sushi with chopsticks.

Very famous picture of woman with a plate of sushi (with chopsticks). The sushi is not exactly the same as modern nigiri, but it is certainly a related type.

[Fat Guy]

I think the term etiquette has to be looked at in context. Etiquette can refer to specific rules of conduct aka manners. Etiquette can more generally refer to sensitivity to one's host and companions. Standards of etiquette can also depend very much on the group or location under examination. For example the average American McDonald's customer and the average American customer at Jean Georges have different expectations of behavior, though the same American (me, for example) could easily eat at both places on the same day.

I agree that when eating most sushi -- kaiten, supermarket, Chinese-restaurant, etc. -- there is no clear etiquette standard, nor does it really matter how one eats it. And that sort of sushi can be very good -- I eat it all the time and I hear the standard for mass-market sushi in Japan is much higher (as in, good kaiten-zushi in Japan is superior to a lot of sushi-bar sushi in the rest of the world). However, I consider made-to-order sushi-bar sushi to be the apex of sushi, and there I think the question of the best way to eat does have an etiquette component.

So far, nobody has disagreed with the premise that the very best nigiri is packed loosely. Nobody has disagreed with the premise that, when you're sitting at a very good sushi bar and being served by the sushi chef, if you eat with chopsticks the chef has no choice but to pack your sushi tighter than is ideal. If those points are correct -- and I think they are, though perhaps someone will disagree -- then I believe those points translate into a statement about etiquette: in that context, eating sushi with chopsticks forces the chef to diminish his craft. To me, it is inconsiderate to force a fine craftsman to choose between craft and hospitality, especially when there's such an easy solution: picking the sushi up with your hands.

[RAHiggins1]

I headed over to youtube and and picked up this clip.

For the most part all of the judges used chopsticks except for eating a vietnamese spring roll. I would say that at the Iron chef's table that if the chef preferred you to eat his sushi by hand he would instruct you to do so.

Edited July 15, 2008 by RAHiggins1 (log)

[RedRum]

I don't get the chopstick thing...

Heh, well as someone who would prefer eating salad with chopsticks if given her druthers, and who eats many Western foods at home with chopsticks, I'd just have to say that you summed it up when you said it all comes down to what may have grown up using.

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Yes, that was exactly my point. If I don't eat western foods with chopstics, why should I eat Asian food with them?

As I said, in my book anyone should used whatever is comfortable for them. And I don't have a problem with westerners using chopstics to eat asian foods. I have a problem with those woh frawn uppon those who don't use them. Don't know.. maybe I am socialising with the wrong crowds, but I have gotten strange looks from strangers in asian restaurant for eating with a fork and knive..