Sushi is a very popular cuisine. American consumption of the Japanese cuisine increased by about 40% from 2000 to 2005 and there are more than 16,000 sushi restaurants worldwide. When looking to treat someone to a unique restaurant experience, fine sushi restaurants can fit that bill if they are new to the cuisine.
Learning to love sushi. Not everyone loves it the first time they sample it but it is not as scary as newcomers expect it to be.
- Start with veggie sushi or cooked sushi rolls. Contrary to what you might think, word sushi refers to the rice, not the fish. There are a lot of rolls with tempura, cooked shrimp or vegetables. This is a good way to ease yourself into the flavor palate that can be found at a sushi bar or restaurant. One reason going out for sushi feels like such a unique restaurant experience is the exotic look of the different rolls.
- The rolls should be dipped in the soy sauce seaweed side first. Like many cuisines, there is a way to eat sushi correctly. You will offend the chef who will see your actions and questioning their skill level or the quality of the roll (or fish) if you dip the tolls rice side first. The rice acts like a sponge and will soak up in the wasabi and soy sauce mix. This changes the consistency of the roll and makes it more likely to fall apart.
- Order a lot of seafood appetizers or side dishes. Order yourself some steamed edamame, kim chee, calamari, all good sushi restaurants have a wide variety of non-sushi items to pick. If you try sushi and you really hate it, you can still enjoy the unique restaurant experience that you get at these fun places. Miso soup is also a great accompaniment for sushi.
If you find you like the fish and are adventurous, consider sashimi. That is just the raw fish. There is a way you can ease into this other Japanese cuisine. This works great if you like spicy foods. Take some wasabi and mix it with some soy sauce. Make this as heavy on the wasabi as you can stand. Put a piece of fish in the mixture and let it sit there for a minute or two. This has a similar effect as cooking the fish and tenderizes it a bit.
It is worth noting that sushi is really healthy. Most Nigiri sushi rolls have about ten grams of protein and 350 calories. The popular California rolls have about 255 calories and a tuna roll contains about 184. This is a low fat and high flavor food that sets sushi establishment apart from other restaurant cuisines. You can eat it until you are totally fun and not feel greasy and bloated like you sometimes feel after eating a lot of fried food or other heavy cuisines.
Sushi bars often let you watch the chef make your rolls so you can see how fresh your rolls are. They are literally made right before served to you. If you really want an authentic experience, pair your meal with hot sake or a cold Japanese beer.
