Grab some hash (Japanese for chopsticks) and get ready to enjoy your favorite sushi rolls.
In honor of International Sushi Day on June 18, here are five things to know about Japan’s popular cuisine contribution.
1. No need for raw seafood
Chef Andy Matsuda of the Sushi Chef Academy in Torrance, Calif., says that while traditional sushi does contain some kind of raw seafood, it’s not required.
A beginner’s guide to sushi ordering in honor of International Sushi Day
In Japanese, sushi means “sour rice”.
Matsuda says sushi doesn’t need raw fish — or raw fish at all — to be considered that way.
The only necessary ingredient, he said, is rice pickled in vinegar.
A Japanese restaurant displays a variety of sushi. (Natasha Breen/REDA&CO/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Matsuda said it was just a few hundred years ago that eating raw fish became commonplace in the Tokyo Bay area of Japan.
Cooked seafood, vegetables, or other meats can also be found in certain other types of sushi.
Examples of sushi rolls that do not contain raw fish include avocado rolls, Boston rolls, California rolls, and dragon rolls.
Matsuda said hand rolls — rice and fillings wrapped in seaweed — are another type of sushi.
2. Explanation of “green food”
What’s that spicy green mush in your sushi?
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It’s often called wasabi balls, but it’s not actually “real vegetable wasabi,” Matsuda said.
Instead, it’s a mixture of horseradish, mustard powder and green food coloring, he said.
Wasabi dishes displayed in a Japanese restaurant in China. (iStock)
Matsuda said that for sushi novices, they tend to mix wasabi with soy sauce to create a “mushy ketchup.”
But he said that Japanese people don’t eat like this.
“We never do that,” Matsuda, who was born in Kobe, Japan, told Fox News Digital.
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The reality, he said, is that wasabi in most Japanese restaurants in the U.S. isn’t that “spicy,” so anyone who eats wasabi won’t be put off by the spiciness.
However, Matsuda said it’s not meant to be eaten like guacamole at a Mexican restaurant.
3. Beginners can try this
Matsuda recommends the California roll to those who want to try sushi for the first time.
The outer layer of the California roll is rice and the inside is crab meat, avocado and cucumber.
The outside of the California roll is rice and the inside is crab meat, avocado and cucumber. (iStock)
Matsuda said that avocado is a fruit that is not available in Japan, so the California roll is designed “for more Americans to eat easily.”
Matsuda also recommends eating something bland, such as mackerel or tuna, but if eating raw fish is “difficult” for someone new to the sushi world, he recommends eating something cooked like shrimp or eel, topped with “Sweet sauce”.
4. Preparation is an art
Matsuda said Japanese chefs teach themselves how to properly prepare sushi for consumption, and it can take years to perfect the craft.
Matsuda said that’s because the Japanese sushi chef there didn’t provide step-by-step training to another chef.
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“That’s the Japan Sushi Chefs Association,” he said. “They don’t teach you. They don’t share with you.”
In the United States, aspiring sushi chefs can take two-month courses at schools like Matsuda Sushi Chef Academy to learn the art of sushi-making.
Students can learn how to be trained in the art of sushi-making at places like the Sushi Chef Academy in California. (iStock)
Matsuda said students learn everything from how to cut different types of fish and how to sharpen knives to how to properly rinse and cook rice.
“We need to have a lot of knowledge and experience,” he said.
5. The sushi chef can deliver the food to you
For sushi lovers who don’t go out often, there are sushi chefs who will come to you.
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Tomas Iribarren is the CEO and executive chef of Irimaki Live Sushi Catering, which he founded in 2020.
Guests choose sushi at a dinner hosted by Irimaki Live Sushi Catering. (Sushi catering on site)
The South Florida-based on-site catering company was born out of the pandemic and specializes in Japanese dishes, appetizers, sushi rolls and desserts, Iribarron told Fox News Digital.
Irimaki and similar companies offer customers a live sushi chef experience.
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“This is mainly a service for the wealthy,” Iribaron points out.
He added that he has catered everything from birthdays, graduations, family dinners to parties for vacationers staying in Airbnbs.
