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The General Knowledge of Japan 19 |
Hanko & Kanji House
OREN |
| Sashimi & Sushi, Raw Fish |
___"Can you eat raw fish?" It is not
as unsophisticated a question as it
might
seem. Initially many Westerners will
shrink
in disgust at the idea of eating raw
fish.
It seems to go against the injunction,
drilled
into them since childhood, that warns
against
eating in raw form anything that once
was
a living animal. The thought of raw
meat,
including that of fish, brings to mind
visions
from biology class of parasites and
worse.
___But in the Japanese mind, "raw fish"
means sashimi -superbly fresh, artistically served, indescribably
delicious. It is part of any formal, traditional
dinner and represents Japanese cuisine at
its best. Sashimi is served in slices, each
small enough to be eaten in one bite. The
serving is garnished with pieces of seaweed
or vegetable with a small bit of wasabi (a hot, green root faintly resembling horseradish)
on the side of the dish. With chopsticks,
the wasabi is mixed into the soy sauce in
a smaller dish, and the individual pieces
of sashimi are then dipped into the sauce
and eaten.
___Many kinds of fish are eaten as sashimi,
but the most common is tuna (maguro). The taste of lean, red tuna meat is incomparable,
but its texture is similar to that of a very
rare piece of tender beef. To the surprise
of many Westerners who are trying it for
the first time, sashimi has none of the oily
"fishy" smell that most of them
associate with raw fish. After all, it is
difficult if not impossible in the West to
purchase fish of the freshness that is considered
essential in the preparation of sashimi in
Japan.
___In addition to tuna sashimi, sea bream (tai), squid (ika), abalone (awabi), and octopus (tako) are favorites. For those who like to combine
a certain amount of risk with eating out,
there is the sashimi that is made of the
blow fish, sometimes called a globefish (fugu). The fish has a poison sac that must be
removed with great care, and only those with
expertise, experience, and a government license
are permitted to prepare fugu for serving.
A less dangerous but more exotic sashimi
is made from shrimp (ebi) that are still living - and moving about!
But this kind of cuisine is only for the
real gourmet. |
___A much more common way to eat raw fish is
in sushi, probably the most typical of everyday Japanese
food. The word sushi is a generic term that
includes much more than raw fish. It refers
to vinegared rice, shaped into mounds or
rectangular blocks, with not only pieces
of raw fish but cucumbers, seaweed, and pieces
of egg, sweetened and cooked like an omelet.
All of these ingredients and more are on
display in the glass case just in front of
the long wooden counter that runs the length
of a sushi shop. Seated there the customer
is in the best position to watch the swift
handiwork of the sushi maker, who forms a
mound of rice in the palm of his hand, adds
a bit of wasabi, and then tops it with a
slice of raw tuna. Or, without adding the
wasabi, he may arrange bright orange beads
of salmon roe (ikura) on top with a strip of seaweed around the
sides of the rice. Kappa maki, with slices of cucumber inside, and tekkamaki, with a core of raw tuna, are cut from long
rolls of rice that have been wrapped in seaweed.
___Seated at the counter in some sushi shops,
the customer may pay a slightly higher price
for his vintage point. The set courses consist
of a variety of sushi and have fixed prices.
Served by the piece -with two pieces usually
making up a serving- the prices may vary.
Whatever the price, it will not be cheap.
Sushi in recent years has become one of the
most expensive foods in Japan. |
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