Grab some hashi (Japanese for chopsticks) and get ready to feast on your favorite sushi roll.
In honor of International Sushi Day on June 18, here are five things you should know about the popular Japanese contribution to cuisine.
1. Raw seafood is not required
While traditional sushi includes some type of raw seafood, it’s not a requirement, according to chef Andy Matsuda, who runs the Sushi Chef Institute in Torrance, California.
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In Japanese, sushi means “sour rice.”
Sushi doesn’t need raw fish (or fish at all) to be considered such, Matsuda said.
The only ingredient needed, he said, is vinegar-marinated rice.
A variety of sushi is displayed in a Japanese restaurant. (Natasha Breen/REDA&CO/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Eating raw fish became common in the Tokyo Bay area of Japan only a couple hundred years ago, Matsuda said.
In other types of sushi you can find seafood, vegetables or other cooked meats.
Examples of sushi rolls without raw fish are the avocado roll, Boston roll, California roll, and dragon roll, to name a few.
Temaki (rice and filling wrapped in seaweed) is another type of sushi, Matsuda said.
2. The ‘green things’ explained
What is that piece of spicy green pasta that accompanies your sushi?
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Commonly known as wasabi ball, it is actually not “true vegetable wasabi,” Matsuda said.
Instead, it is a mixture of horseradish, mustard powder and green food coloring, he said.
A plate of wasabi is displayed in a Japanese restaurant in China. (iStock)
For the sushi-eating beginner, there is a tendency to mix wasabi with soy sauce to create a sort of “pasty ketchup,” Matsuda said.
But that’s not how someone from Japan would eat it, he said.
“We never do that,” Matsuda, who was born in Kobe, Japan, told Fox News Digital.
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The reality is that the wasabi in most Japanese restaurants in the United States is not that “very spicy,” he said, so anyone who eats it probably won’t dislike the degree of spiciness.
Still, Matsuda said, it shouldn’t be eaten as you would guacamole at a Mexican restaurant.
3. Beginners can try this
Matsuda recommends the California roll to anyone thinking about trying sushi for the first time.
A California roll is rice on the outside with crab meat, avocado, and cucumber inside.
A California roll is made of rice on the outside and crab meat, avocado, and cucumber on the inside. (iStock)
Avocado is a fruit not found in Japan, so the California roll was created “for more Americans — it’s easy to eat,” Matsuda said.
Matsuda also suggests a light fish like mackerel or tuna, but if eating raw fish is “difficult” for someone new to sushi, he suggests something cooked like shrimp or eel with “sweet sauces.”
4. Preparation is an art
Chefs in Japan are self-taught in the ways to properly prepare sushi for consumption, and it can take years to perfect the art, Matsuda said.
That’s because a Japanese sushi chef there, Matsuda said, is not providing step-by-step training to another chef.
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“That’s a Japanese society of sushi chefs,” he said. “They don’t teach you. They don’t share with you.”
In the United States, aspiring sushi chefs can take two-month classes at schools like Matsuda’s Sushi Chef Institute and learn the art of making sushi.
Students can learn how to train themselves in the art of making sushi at places like the Sushi Chef Institute in California. (iStock)
Matsuda said students learn everything from how to cut different types of fish and how to sharpen their knives to how to properly rinse and cook rice.
“We need to have a lot of knowledge and experience,” he said.
5. Sushi chefs can bring you the food.
For the sushi fan who doesn’t go out much, there are sushi chefs who will come to you.
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Tomas Iribarren is CEO and executive chef of Irimaki Live Sushi Catering, which he founded in 2020.
Guests select sushi during a dinner hosted by Irimaki Live Sushi Catering. (Live Irimaki Sushi Catering)
Born out of the pandemic, the South Florida-based live catering company specializes in Japanese-inspired dishes, appetizers, sushi rolls and desserts, Iribarren told Fox News Digital.
Irimaki and similar companies offer customers a live sushi chef experience.
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“This is primarily a service for wealthy people,” Iribarren said.
He added that he has catered for everything from birthdays, graduations and dinners at home to gatherings for vacationers staying on Airbnb.
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