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I suspect it was in response to my query about the lack of sashimi, which by then it would have been VERY unusual to send out a sashimi course after the sushi, though it didn't stop Kaz's Sushi Bistro from doing so (we have not been back there since they did that). So while I do question their menu description for the omakase, at least the chef has the common sense not to try to make up for it by doing something very wrong in the normal flow of Japanese dining.

Would you please explain this?  I'm not criticizing or anything, I'm just unfamiliar with Japanese dining customs, and curious.  Sashimi after sushi is a faux pas?

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At first, I didn't get it- I don't know sushi culture enough to know that was the case. Reaction was this visceral "damn food snobs" feeling.

But, then I gave it a thought. I'm Gujarati, and we are the Indians that you probably most commonly meet - Patels, and what not - but you probably never eat our food. Well, our meal ends with daal-bhaat (rice and lentils). There is nothing inherently wrong with eating it first, but I would really think, "this is weird" if it was served before or during the main meal, rather than after.

So, I'm guessing it's sort of like that - it's just not the right order, and may display that they don't really know the cuisine, or disregarding the culinary norms, or they are just trying something new.

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Usually, the order of a meal is small plates then sashimi to start, sushi, rolls, rice at the end.  the fish is served from least oily and milder flavors to stronger and more assertive.  

Yes, the traditional sequence (at least from the Japanese chefs I've talked with here in DC) is sashimi, cooked food, sushi.

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Well - if nigiri is the same fish on top of sushi rice, why does it matter as far as oils/flavors? Salmon sashimi and salmon nigiri isn't all that different except for the rice?

I'm just asking, not being difficult! Very interesting these peculiar things. In my head, I can't come up with a significant difference...

S

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Well - if nigiri is the same fish on top of sushi rice, why does it matter as far as oils/flavors? Salmon sashimi and salmon nigiri isn't all that different except for the rice?

I'm just asking, not being difficult! Very interesting these peculiar things. In my head, I can't come up with a significant difference...

S

To throw a few wrenches in the equation:

1) When I'm at the end of a meal I *always* get nigiri before (not alongside) maki. I've only gotten maki when I'm really hungry, and more-and-more, I'm finding sushi chefs offering me tekka maki instead of the usual six-piece maki (I assume they find it more interesting to make, and the rice is not as heavily pressed).

2) I eat sashimi with chopsticks, and most sushi (nigiri and maki) with my fingers - the only exception to that is if something is heavily brushed. If I take a small bite of ginger to cleanse my palate, or place a dab of wasabi on my maki, I always use my chopsticks to do it with. For nigiri sushi, I use my thumb one one side, and my second (perhaps also my third) finger on the other, and if it's a dangerously loose rice-pack (i.e., if it's going to fall apart when I pick it up), I use my thumb and forefinger to slide it towards the edge of the plate, then, just as it's coming off the side of the plate, I place my middle finger underneath for extra support - I've saved many a fallen nigiri using this method.

3) You can add wasabi to sashimi, but not to nigiri sushi, and only a small amount. However, it's okay to add wasabi to maki sushi since there's generally none added. When you dip the sashimi in soy sauce, only dip one tip in and definitely don't take the entire piece and swab both sides of it like you're doing laundry in a washtub.

4) A few years ago, Tom Sietsema made a short, simple video on the Post about the proper way to eat sashimi, and from what I remember, everything on it was correct. It's worth seeking out and watching if you prefer to visualize instead of read.

5) I have never met a halfway-decent sushi chef who wasn't happy to field questions about etiquette - a simple admission that you're new to this always results in a pleasant experience. Even asking which order you should eat the pieces in (assuming you get a plate with multiple pieces) is perfectly okay, although I've had some very "questionable" sushi chefs in lesser restaurants say, 'Whichever order you'd like.' As an aside, it might surprise you to find out how many DC sushi chefs are not Japanese.

6) Dean is right about going from lighter, more watery fish (ama-ebi (first for me, almost always), escolar, hotate), working through the medium-bodied fish (hirame, hamachi, kampachi), towards the darker-colored, heavily-oiled fish (saba, maguro), and often ending with the heaviest, darkest-colored items (painted unagi). A good, basic rule-of-thumb is to go "lighter in color to darker in color"). Depending on whether I splurge on something like toro or uni, I will often break with tradition and eat these towards the beginning despite that perhaps being "wrong" - if I'm spending $8 on a single piece of toro, I want to enjoy it on an untainted palate when I'm hungry so I can really savor it and pick up every single nuance (does anyone know if this goes against protocol?) If you want to "prime your palate" for something like this, a glass of sake is ideal.

7) When offering (and serving) a companion, use the opposite end of your chopsticks that you eat off of, always.

8) It is true that pointing your chopsticks at the sushi chef is considered rude. I've never been quite sure if that holds true only while having conversation (i.e., holding your chopsticks, talking to the sushi chef, and inadvertently shaking them at him during the course of normal conversation), or also when the chopsticks are on the bar in a resting position. I've assumed both are true, and my servers generally place my chopstick holders on the bar so that (unless I turn them) the chopsticks will be perpendicular to the sushi chef. I see no reason to take chances here.

This all does sound a bit rigid, but I'm certain there's a valid tradition behind it. With regards to #3, the sushi chef has already added wasabi on the nigiri sushi, and it's considered an insult if you question his amount. To make things even more confusing, this only applies to nigiri, not maki - with maki, there is generally no wasabi added, and you're free to add it.

And, I suppose people know you *don't* rub your chopsticks together before the meal (it's insulting, and you're telling the chef, "I think there might be splinters in your cheap, wooden chopsticks").

Clear now? :)

By the way, etiquette is a two-way street. Sushi chefs should offer you one, maybe two, pieces of nigiri at a time; not an entire plateful, and you should eat it within seconds of delivery. I'm one to savor my food, not to devour it, so I always mention this to them as a personal quirk at the beginning of the meal so they won't be perplexed. I like to spend a small amount of time (seconds, not minutes) looking at and admiring my nigiri (however, I always eat it in one bite - don't do the two-bite thing, ever). If a place serves you nuclear-sized sushi, all bets are off in terms of etiquette.

Finally, if all this sounds impossibly effete, don't shoot the messenger!

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Depending on whether I splurge on something like toro or uni, I will often break with tradition and eat these towards the beginning despite that perhaps being "wrong" - if I'm spending $8 on a single piece of toro, I want to enjoy it on an untainted palate when I'm hungry so I can really savor it and pick up every single nuance (does anyone know if this goes against protocol?)

In my experience most meals which have a three piece nigiri maguro, chu-tori, and o-otoro progression have been at the front end of a sushi meal since it can be considered as an add-on to a sushi chef's tasting meal. Additionally, in Japan, it has historically been reserved for special occasions, i.e. life moments. Remember at high level places there is no price list before the bill at the end of the meal.

Otherwise, I think Don did a good job at a summary of basic etiquette. There are several other mannerisms and verbal communications that go on but outside of Japan, that is less required. I would only add courses will and won't include various fishes depending on the season.

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Wow, didn't know I was going to start a whole discussion on eating sushi/Japanese food.

I think all the previous comments, especially Don's extensive tutorial cover everything pretty well.

The sashimi at the beginning is to provide a taste of the fish and demonstrate how good it is. Once you start mixing it in with the rice, it does alter the taste. Some fish are just better as sashimi vs sushi as well. There is also a dish or a few dishes in between as well so you essentially re-start once you go on to the sushi so you're not dealing so much with the re-setting of strength of fish flavor.

One other thing that can be irksome is the transfer to the Western tradition of serving the miso soup at the beginning of the meal. It's served much later in the meal in traditional Japanese ordering of courses basically towards the end.

For a great tutorial on how a traditional Japanese meal is conducted, I can't recommend Sushi Taro's chef's counter enough. That meal is exactly what one would expect with regard to components and how Japanese counter service should be. Following on Don's comment about rolled sushi being at the end, it's often a way to fill up, either if you're spending too much or if the chef is running out of fish and needs to get you finished. At Sushi Taro on our last visit, he had some amazing nori that I just had to have some more of so I finished with a hand roll. Think of your $250 spent on dinner like paying for a class in Japanese dining.

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Did anyone see Anthony Bourdain's CNN show in Tokyo?  He hangs out with and interviews sushi master Naomichi Yasuda.  Among the things that were shocking (to me anyway) was the fact that Yasuda favors cheaper fish than the "high end" sushi chefs and he uses "weird cuts" of the fish.  He also takes fresh (never frozen) fish, cuts it up, and then freezes it for weeks.  It's supposed to make it more tender.
 
The biggest shocker was when Bourdain asked him what was more important in sushi, the quality of the fish or the quality of the rice, and Yasuda answers without hesitation, "the rice"   ?!?!?!  Who knew?!?!

You can probably find the entire episode on youtube or hulu (or maybe even the CNN site), but here's a blurb on it:

http://www.cnn.com/video/shows/anthony-bourdain-parts-unknown/season-2/tokyo/
 

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