Sushi: Soy Sauce or without?
 

I generally do not enjoy adding soy sauce to my sushi rolls. The only time I would do so is with Sashimi where I would mix the soy sauce with wasabi for dipping purposes. But if they are the normal non-raw rolls, I prefer not to dip or add soy sauce as I feel they ruin the "real" taste.

I was at a sushi place recently and some Japanese folk showed up and sat next to me. I always thought that you add a bit of wasabi to the soy sauce, but these guys were doing the opposite - taking a huge lump of wasabi and then pouring a tiny bit of soy sauce onto it. :)

I never put soy sauce on my sushi. I like to taste the fish!

I ate at a sushi restaurant with one Michelin star in Tokyo and the sushi chef suggested that--rather than wasabi & soy sauce--we try our sashimi with wasabi and a little sea salt. It was a delicious and makes sense when you think about it (since soy is largely salt).

Soy sauce. No wasabi, ever.

The exception is rolls that already have some kind of sauce on it. Then everything just clashes so no sauce.

i don't put soy sauce on my rolls too. only a bit on sashimi or nigiri sushi and some wasabi sometimes

Darn, I must be the only guy who practically "drowns" his sashimi in soy sauce...

Depends on type of sushi.

These days there are sushi where you put ponze sauce on it instead.

Since there is already a base of vinegar in the sushi rice, so soy sauce is a good match.

Most of the places we go to in Japan, already add the wasabi to the sushi so adding wasabi to the soy sauce is overkill.

Generally speaking, I like to dip it into a little bit of soy sauce.

Depends on where I am as well as the type of sushi. In Japan I usually put a tiny drop of soy sauce and have more wasabi, even if wasabi is already in the sushi itself. I never mix the wasabi with the soy sauce.

If there is already a sauce I just use wasabi. Of course pickled ginger is a critical ingredient for all of it.

There are variations. Japan (Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto) or North are different, The US is very different, Peruvians (Nobu et al) are different again, and Brazilians (inexplicably with cream cheese in sushi ('Hot Filadelfia' anybody) have it different too. Those variations have me not use wasabi at all for some of them, use more soy sauce in some than others (the more vinegary the sushi rice is, the more soy sauce I use).

Thus, I have not fixed habits except: Never mix the soy sauce and wasabi!

Dunno but I tend to keep working on the wasabi until it's dissolved in the soy sauce. A slightly greenish light brown colour promises nice taste from experience. ;)

I was always told by actual Japanese people that, with nigiri, one puts a dab of wasabi on the fish and dips JUST THE FISH, not the rice, in a little soy sauce. For rolls, which usually have their own sauce, I just add a little wasabi.

Same here, and when in Japan, my hosts were aghast that I requested wasabi, since it was "already on the fish", and they were really shocked when I mixed the wasabi and soy. My impression was they had never in their lives seen that.

That's what I always do too. :)

But the Japanese folk I saw were using the opposite proportions, reversing what I always do. Once they finished mixing up their gigantic load of wasabi with a tiny bit of soy the end result almost looked like a portion of mashed potatoes... except that it was green, just slightly darker than plain wasabi.

I can assure you that mixing wasabi and soy is normal both in Japan and Korea that are the two big raw fish eating nations in Asia.

But not in high-end sushiya. There it might get you kicked out by the offended itamae.

Sushi Etiquette

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_V1hky3QMM4...+Etiquette.jpg

(btw, are pics not allowed in dining buzz? I tried to preview this to see how big it was but the preview showed nothing so i changed from an img to a url.)