300967 Mon Oct 17 00:28:08 -0700 2005 21 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 1675837 ive been an avid sushi eater for years and years but just recently ive been trying to really learn the finer points about it. my first question is about wasabi. i love fresh grated wasabi but a lot of sushi places either dont have it or dont have it on the menu... at Ebisu (my regular sushi bar) i ask for hon-wasabi... is this a) rude, or b) stupid or incorrect? and is there a particular name for fresh grated wasabi i can request? my other question is about oshi-zushi, osaka-style sushi. is there any place in town that does this style exceptionally well? kabuto and ebisu dont offer it. last question is about tuna. what exactly is the difference between "premium" tuna or bluefin tuna and yellowfin tuna? if i want the best quality maguro they have what do i request? thanks in advance Mon Oct 17 00:28:08 -0700 2005 0 Lord Griffin 1 1675854 Hmmm I thought hon meant blue, as in hon-maguro (blue fin tuna). If you are a regular and the chef knows you, it wouldn't hurt to ask for fresh wasabi. Most reputable places would only give fresh wasabi when you order sashimi. Paste wasabi seems standard for nigiri sushi, and typically you shouldn't need more wasabi considering the chef already dabs some on the shari (sushi rice ball) before he molds the fish on top of it. I have seen exceptions where a very small dab of fresh wasabi is placed on top of uni sushi (gunkan/battleship form) to enhance the flavor. Also they give the paste wasabi because the typical customer likes to make a "mud bath" with a lot of soy + wasabi mixed together, and to some that is a big waste with fresh wasabi. Plus paste wasabi makes a better mud bath than with the fresh kind. The more common kinds of tuna your local chef gets in are likely yellowfin and/or Ahi. It wouldn't hurt to ask your chef what kind of red tuna he has available or if they have blue fin. "Premium" doesn't tell you anything other than a fancy label. I would think blue fin is upper or highest tier, tastes the best and is pricier. The taste of bluefin depends on where the restaurant sources it from. I've had great blue fin, and mediocre at some places. Blue fin red meat is usually a bit costlier than regular tuna (ahi/yellowfin), more for blue fin medium toro (chu-toro) and a lot more for blue fin fatty toro (o-toro). Mon Oct 17 13:45:19 -0700 2005 1675837 0 KK 2 1675859 The wasabi/soy sauce bath--is it wrong? ~TDQ Mon Oct 17 14:22:15 -0700 2005 1675854 0 The Dairy Queen 3 1675860 From what I have been told, it is the American-dining-at-a-Japanese-restaurant equivalent of pouring ketchup on a very expensive steak. Also, one is supposed to turn the sushi over and only lightly dip the fish part, not the rice, into the soy. Mon Oct 17 14:29:40 -0700 2005 1675859 0 Two Forks 4 1675861 So, you're only supposed to put a small amount of soy sauce into the little dish they bring you and dip, as you say, just the fish? No wasabi goes in that dish? Why do they give you the wasabi then? Is it something they just do to appease the consumer? ~TDQ Mon Oct 17 14:45:04 -0700 2005 1675860 0 The Dairy Queen 5 1675863 Of course you can use the extra wasabi they give you. generally i use my chopsticks and put a little dab on my sashimi or nigiri, then you are supposed to dip the fish (not the rice) in the soy sauce. you can put however much soy you want into the dish. technically you shouldnt mix wasabi with the soy because the wasabi drowns out the flavor of the fish. also, after dipping a piece of nigiri, eat it with the fishside down on your tongue. ive found its way easier to eat nigiri this way with your fingers. always use chopsticks with sashimi. Mon Oct 17 15:25:53 -0700 2005 1675861 0 Lord Griffin 6 1675865 Well, that does sound a lot more elegant than the wasabi bath. :) I'd seen the post a few weeks ago where the consensus was to eat the nigiri fish side down, but I missed the part about skipping the wasabi bath. Thank you! ~TDQ Mon Oct 17 16:01:08 -0700 2005 1675863 0 The Dairy Queen 5 1837411 Yeah, but I've been guilty of making wasabi "soup" by mixing the stuff through the soy sauce and "bathing" liberally! TT Mon Aug 28 09:58:21 -0700 2006 1675861 19247 TexasToast 5 1847863 One sushi taught me to put a dab of wasabi on one edge of soy sauce, dissolve a bit of that, and let a gradient of wasabi form across the soy dish. Dip fattier more full bodied fish on the part with the stronger wasabi, and lighter fish on the side with lighter wasabi. Fri Sep 01 06:15:47 -0700 2006 1675861 10076 limster 4 1675868 does this make the sushi taste better? or is it just an affectation? Mon Oct 17 16:31:47 -0700 2005 1675860 0 bryanj 5 1675869 Better is relative but you can taste the flavor of fish and rice instead of primarily tasting soy and wasabi. Mon Oct 17 16:37:55 -0700 2005 1675868 0 homer J 5 1675872 Assuming you're referring to the dipping of the fish side (as opposed to the rice side) - the answer is it's done for a couple of reasons and is not just an affectation. One, the rice is like a sponge, so dipping the fish side keeps you from soakig up too much soy and, two, the rice has a tendency to fall apart if you soak it in soy. Mon Oct 17 16:41:13 -0700 2005 1675868 0 potluck 5 1675880 I am as fond of strong flavors as most people - actually, probably MORE fond than most people. I use hot sauce on lots of things, etc. But most of the fish used in sushi has delicate flavors. Properly made sushi rice has a particular consistency that is hard to get. Nearly all of sushi is expensive. If you put tons of wasabi on your fish, and then dunk the rice in soy sauce, you might as well just cook some rice at home and pour soy and wasabi on it. Also putting the fish side in the soy sauce not only adds a little flavor, but it slightly affects the texture of the fish, in a way that I like. Mon Oct 17 18:36:30 -0700 2005 1675868 0 Peter Flom 6 1675881 i'll do a test tomorrow! oh, btw, i do cook rice and put soy sauce and wasabi powder on it. i love it! Mon Oct 17 18:50:06 -0700 2005 1675880 0 bryanj 7 1675887 Hey, it sounds pretty good. I'm not saying it's a bad idea, but why pay for the fish? :-) Mon Oct 17 20:18:01 -0700 2005 1675881 0 Peter Flom 5 1837211 When my itame serves me he sprays soy on the fish, put a bit of wasabi on the rice sometimes and gives me fake and real wasabi. Tells me not to put the real wasabi in the soy, so by default he's fine with the green horseraddish stuff in the soy. Most chef's know people will do whatever they want. I've developed a taste for only his spray of soy on the fish-every place should do this IMO. Wasabi-wise i like to eat some between fish as a cleanser. Dipping in wasabi-soy mixture is something I've only done at places I want to get the fish down because it's not so fresh. Last time the itame only gave me fresh wasabi. He seems to have realized he's wasting the fake wasabi on me. Mon Aug 28 04:03:09 -0700 2006 1675868 15106 Neilo 4 1675943 The ketchup analogy isn't right. It's not that soy sauce and wasabi ruin the taste of the sushi. It's that when you mix the soy sauce and wasabi together, you lose control of the ratio of the two ingredients that you would put on a piece of sushi or sashimi. Some pieces might require more wasabi, some less or none at all. The reason you dip the fish part and not the rice part is that the rice pieces soak up the liquid like a sponge, and then sometimes drop back in the soy sauce tray. These are practical reasons. It is not an elaborate time-honored Japanese tradition that we do either of these things. If you don't want to do it that way, then I don't think anybody will care that much. Also, you should use your fingers to eat sushi. It is easier than using chopsticks. Tue Oct 18 17:53:34 -0700 2005 1675860 0 cornflower 3 1675875 I think this blog about sushi is very informative and is worth checking out. Will answer most questions and concerns about ettiquette. Link: http://bayosphere.com/blog/noriko_takiguchi Mon Oct 17 17:21:57 -0700 2005 1675859 0 KK 2 1675871 Hon maguro usually will refer to bluefin as it is the most coveted variety of tuna. But the "hon" in hon maguro can be used to mean "premium", it's not the word for "blue". The translation for bluefin tuna is kuro maguro (which means black tuna, go figure). For the most part, "hon" as a prefix refers to "authentic" ("hon-mono"), or real/true ("hontoo"). So, hon-wasabi just means real wasabi. Mon Oct 17 16:40:20 -0700 2005 1675854 0 Eric Eto 2 1675888 I forgot to mention there's also Big Eye tuna or Meibachi (if I spelt that right). All depends on the sushi chef (itamae)'s sources of tuna. Mon Oct 17 20:25:00 -0700 2005 1675854 0 KK 2 1675891 I'd say go right ahead and ask if they have hon-wasabi... I see it sort of like asking for bottled water instead of tap water. Link: http://thecosmicjester.blogspot.com Mon Oct 17 20:50:44 -0700 2005 1675854 0 JK Grence (the Cosmic Jester) 1 1675876 Please see Lord Griffin's post on the San Francisco board if you have comments on where to find osaka-style sushi in the San Francisco area. Link: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/40483#193807 Mon Oct 17 17:28:02 -0700 2005 1675837 2 The Chowhound Team