By Noriko Takiguchi
Something about soy sauce
Although California is abundant in fresh fish, you might want to try Sakae Sushi to experience fresh fish airlifted from Tsukiji, the large fish market in Tokyo. In this season, you can enjoy seared bonito or Japanese shad. The atmosphere is that of a typical Japanese neighborhood sushi place with some interesting table wares, including soy sauce pot shaped like a little persimmon.
Soy sauce is actually a very difficult thing to deal with when it comes to sashimi or sushi. Although I generally think people should eat sushi as they like, soy sauce is something I feel like preaching about when I visit American sushi restaurants.
First, you do not need to put so much soy sauce in that little soy dish that comes with sashimi or sushi. Some people almost top it off, but I would even be careful so that the edge of the soy sauce will not touch the inner rim of the dish. There are two reasons for this.
One is that soy contains high percentage of salt (usually 16 to 19%), and it is not good for your health. So, you should use it little by little. Secondly, it is not esthetically good looking if anything makes a dish too full. When it comes to what is beautiful in Japanese meal, especially something "liquidy", it is always considered better to have the cup or dish filled much less than full. (Many foreign visitors in Japan complain that their expensive cup of coffee is only filled to half level.)
Then comes the more advanced part of dealing soy sauce: How sushi touches the soy sauce before it goes into your mouth. This may be surprising, but you should dip the fish side, not the rice, into the soy sauce. Many people in Japan do not know this, either, but this is critical in good sushi eating. How you do it, however, is a little tricky.
When you pick up a sushi piece using your thumb, first and second fingers, you just turn it over so that the sushi piece is almost upside down. If you are using chopsticks, you might first want to knock down the sushi piece sideways, so that you only need to twist your wrist 90 degrees to dip the sushi upside down into soy sauce..
When you touch the soy sauce with sushi, it has to be quick, almost like a fish jumping up from between the waves. You do not soak sushi in soy sauce. Sushi is after all about freshness and liveliness. So, remember, if your sushi piece resembles yourself in a bathtub on weekends, resting comfortably in liquid very long, you have done it incorrectly.
Many sushi connoisseurs say that it is the fish side, again, that first touches your tongue when eating. This way, you can enjoy the taste and the texture of the fish well with some flavors of soy. Noriko Takiguchi's blog
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