Sushi and Sake: Two Reasons to Love Japan

Last weekend, my Japanese friends took me out for sushi as they know it at Sushi-ei (YRP Nobi station). It was the freshest, most sophisticated sushi I've ever eaten! Here are a few things to know about sushi, some of which I just learned:

#1: This is a haran leaf, which is placed alongside the sushi. It is a "barometer" for the freshness of the sushi. If it is wet and moist, the sushi is fresh and safe to eat. However, the leaf dries quickly, within about an hour. So if it is dried out and wilted, the sushi is not fresh. Most take-out sushi contains a plastic version of this leaf.

#2: Hot sake goes well with sushi. However, it is customary to toast first with beer. So, bring on the beer before swallowing any sake. Kompai!

#3: Speaking of beverages, green tea goes by another name in a sushi restaurant; people who are "in-the-know" order agari at sushi restaurants.

#4: It is okay to eat sushi with your hands, as Keiko demonstrates here.

#5: Dip the fish (not the rice) of the sushi in the soy sauce to keep it from falling apart.

#6: Wasabi has some antibacterial properties, which is why it was originally served with sushi. It is also for good flavor, of course. It is used by the sushi chef in making the sushi, but in Japan is never served alongside the sushi to be mixed with soy sauce.

#7: A sushi chef trains for more than 10 years. (Here he holds the aji before serving it to us.) He also makes his own fresh pickled ginger.

The lunch menu included one piece of the following types of sushi:

• Madai, a red sea bream or snapper (from Akasi)
• Tsumi ika, a type of squid (from Tokyo)
• Tyutoro--a medium-fat tuna (the more fat, the more desirable)
• Akagai--ark shell (from Fukuoka in Kyushu)
• Tamagoyaki--sweet egg omelet
• Kasuko (sounds like "Costco")--baby snapper (only available April to June all around Japan, so very special)
• Ebi--shrimp (I ordered mine boiled, but my friends ate it raw and it was still moving when served!)
• Ikura--salmon roe (this is the only one I couldn't choke down in its entirety...I tasted 2 or 3 of the roe, but its slimy fishy taste was unappetizing, so I politely offerred it to Emiko, who then felt lucky!)
• Uni--a sea urchin (from Hokkaido)

These pieces were special order:

• Anago--a conger or sea eel
• Aji--horse mackerel (from Awajshima, Hyogo Prefecture) topped with Negi onions
• Tekka-maki (tuna rolls)

We finished our meal with white miso soup, which was also the best miso soup I've ever eaten. If I wasn't so full, I would have eaten the take-out sushi they sent me home with for Brian...although I would've happily left him the ikura.