寿司と刺身

sushi and saShimi

Ubiquitous classics

Ask someone outside Japan to name one Japanese food and the chances are high they’ll say sushi. The lightly vinegared rice topped with seafood has become the unofficial national dish. Sashimi—sliced fillets of raw fish served without rice—is perhaps less well known internationally, but is no less of a Japanese culinary classic.

Sushi

What the world calls sushi nowadays developed in Tokyo in the 1800s. Initially a dish of raw fish on a bed of vinegared rice, it evolved into bite-sized format as a quick-to-eat street food. Sushi in its current form spans multiple culinary levels, from three-Michelin-star restaurants such as Sukibayashi Jiro in Ginza, Tokyo, to low- cost kaitenzushi (conveyor-belt sushi). Go high-end for a special occasion and you can expect to enjoy a tasting menu of seasonal seafood prepared directly in front of you—typically starting with lighter flavors such as flounder and then progressing to heavier tastes like sea urchin and eel.

Go low-end—the way most people would enjoy sushi with family or friends—and you can still eat well, plucking anything you fancy from the conveyor belt and even ordering very un-sushi sides like fried chicken, cheese fries, and creamy parfait. Even cheaper are supermarkets, where you can get a good-quality sushi bento (carryout)—ideal for a picnic.

Be More Japan Sushi And Sashimi

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D Nigiri sushi is thin slices of fish on top of rice.

fragrance free

Sushi is subtle, so scents matter. High-end restaurants ask customers not to wear any perfumes that might taint the air.

Be More Japan Sushi And Sashimi

Sashimi

More often seen than sushi on izakaya (pub) menus or as part of dinner at home, not to mention a staple in the early courses in refined kaiseki-ryori, is sashimi. Sashimi is more popular, although it has nowhere near the same kind of profile outside Japan that sushi enjoys.

Maybe that’s because it’s such a simple dish—just skilfully sliced fresh seafood served with a little soy sauce and wasabi or grated ginger. Sashimi’s simplicity goes perfectly with a nice sake as a starter to a meal, when the palate is still clean enough to appreciate the delicate flavors of the seafood prepared this way. Tuna, salmon, sea bream, squid, bonito, yellowtail, and octopus are among the typical options you’ll see on menus.

Be More Japan Sushi And Sashimi

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D Top to bottom: At kaitenzushi you are charged per plate; sashimi must be eaten with chopsticks, but for sushi it is also acceptable to use your hands.

Be More Japan Sushi And Sashimi

wasabi

Indispensable to both sushi and sashimi, wasabi not only provides a warming accent but also functions to suppress certain microbes in raw fish that could potentially cause food poisoning.

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