None of your sushi orders are complete without a trio of condiments joining them on the table. When used properly, the wasabi, soy sauce, and ginger elevate the taste experience, freshen your mouth for the next morsel, and even add some healthy goodness. Keep reading to find out how a professional chef recommends we use them, and why they are the perfect complement.
Tips From a Tokyo Chef
It can be tempting to slather wasabi on your sushi, pile on pickled ginger (gari), and take it for one last swim in the bowl of soy sauce, before transferring the now-crumbling wreck to your mouth. Don’t do it. Follow the advice of professionals such as Tokyo-based chef Naomichi Yasuda and others instead:
Do not overdo the wasabi. The chef will have added some while preparing it. If you add too much more, it will overpower the flavour of the fish. Use your fingers to hold the fish onto the rice, and then turn the piece of sushi so that the fish is on the underside. Add a small amount of wasabi to the rice, and then tip the piece into the soy sauce so that the fish touches the sauce. Avoid dipping the rice into the sauce, because it will loosen the rice. Remember this next time you feast on sushi when playing Australian slots online, and you will avoid dropping rice all over the place.
Wonderful Wasabi
Unless you have eaten sushi in Japan or in the very best restaurants outside the country, you are probably familiar with wasabi as a thick, green paste. That paste usually is a mix of powered American horseradish, mustard, and food colouring. Some brands contain small amounts of true wasabi powder or extract.
However, when freshly prepared from the actual plant, it looks like a finely grated green root. It has a sharp bite that is felt from the tip of your tongue to the far reaches of your sinuses. Even so, the heat is short-lived. It is not just wasabi’s flavour profile that makes it perfect for sushi. Findings published by several researchers show that the plant is antibacterial and antimicrobial. It contains allyl isothiocyanate (AITC), a compound that can eliminate Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Staphylococcus aureus. The two pathogens usually are involved in food poisoning cases.
Super Soy Sauce
In top sushi restaurants, chefs usually prepare their own soy sauce. They deftly blend ingredients to create the sauce that is best suited to your order. Mixing wasabi into it would undo the chef’s hard work.
Glorious Ginger
The pickled ginger served with sushi is a palate cleanser. It is not supposed to be placed on the sushi pieces. Instead, you should eat a piece of ginger after eating a piece of sushi to freshen your mouth and prepare your taste buds for the next item.
While not as powerful as wasabi, ginger also has anti-microbial properties. It also can stimulate digestion while easing stomach complaints. Together with the astringent, fiery green root, it could also help protect you from food poisoning.
