That's good knowledge.

Aw man, I can't eat sushi without being an unbearable douche? Guess I'M DOING IT WRONG

The only important thing to take away from this is that if you're at a good sushi joint, you only use soy sauce when the sushi chef says to. Sushi is a delicate dish.

The rest was just pretentiousness.

It doesn't matter if you enjoy it more that way, it's wrong and you need to do it this way even if it is less enjoyable for you.

I wonder if I've been eating my damn oatmeal correctly after watching Trevor (given-name, doomed to derision) here...

Best sushi experience-Deep sea charter, catch tunies, filet on deck-Bring rice if ya want, wasabi, good soy-Oh, decent Saki. This is good sushi.

I probably can't even eat a fucking carrot correctly at this point. How disappointing.

I prefer this instructional video. It's the best sushi video ever:

They should have cut out the bit that harasses and just focused on how sushi is prepared and should be eaten to enjoy the full flavour.

Then it would have been fine but as it is, I agree it just puts you off, which is the opposite of educational, good messages can get lost in bad presentation.

Having watched the documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi though, it really made me appreciate the art of sushi making and I put this experience very high on my list of things to do when I go to Japan soon.

I don't even like sushi but after that film, you just can't ignore it so perhaps this is why people get so passionate about it, like this guy, in his doucheness he just wants people to experience the full effect.

I chop it all up and mush it together and eat it with a spork. Ketchup on the side.

screw this guy I do it wrong cause it tastes better

this guy is a retard, there is no right way to eat, if it tastes good eat it.

some people think dog is wrong, I've had dog when I was stationed in South Korea, it's actually quite damn good. But this guy would probably think i ate it wrong

This is going to come as a big surprise to all the Japanese people I saw in Japan doing it the "wrong" way.

I ran a side sushi bar at my cousin's club in Durango for a year, made California rolls and had Yellowfin for Nigiri and Sashim-With my leftovers...I took those home and served 'em in a bowl salad-style to my wife n son, simply cut it up an toss it with some shoyu and wasabi 'n ginger....MMmmMMMgoood, kept us lean n mean!!

My favorite way to eat sushi is to not eat sushi.

This is just as bad as the "YOU'RE DOING PEANUT BUTTER WRONG!" video that was sifted a while back, where they pull an infomercial-esque "I can't figure out how smashing my knife full of peanut butter into the bread technique isn't working!"

No, just because you're mixing wasabi and soy doesn't mean you're doing it wrong. It's the same as putting relish on a hamburger. Do I like relish? No. Is it a condiment, to be used when you see fit? Hell yeah.

I am a line cook, I literally make people food for a living, and if anybody at that restaurant is telling a customer that they're not allowed to do what they want with their food once it's at their table, then that restaurant won't stay open long. It's a service industry, we serve you. (within reason of course.)

A sushi chef especially should NOT be offended if you dunk the fish in soy, I mean absolutely no offense to sushi chefs, but for sashimi, literally all they do is cut the fish for you.

bah, these kinds of things just annoy me.

To anyone offended by the "pretentiousness" of this video:
You just don't get it do you? You can't compare this stuff to the way you eat cornflakes or how you prefer to take your hamburger.
What he's talking about, what most people seem to completely misunderstand, is that sushi is ALL about the fish, it's what differentiates good and bad sushi, it's what makes quality sushi so expensive...

Now, you can eat however the fuck you want to eat, but you need to understand that when you go to a fancy sushi restaurant and you dip your entire nigiri in soy sauce mixed with wasabi and then even add ginger on top, you're throwing your money down the drain.
It's the equivalent of ordering a 100$ medium-rare steak and covering it in ketchup, then deep-frying it.

If that's how you choose to take your steaks, enjoy. But pretending there's no validity in the many ways different cultures around the world have of enjoying extra-fine foods and of enhancing one's ability to appreciate the taste of extra-fresh ingredients is just childish.

Don't sweat it. I have no doubt you have "unbearable douche" down pat.

I think your irony will be lost on the masses.

I think the point is that most people (certainly in the west) aren't eating that kind of fine sushi. In fact, most people in japan aren't eating it like that (at least in my limited experience).

Your steak/hamburger analogy is quite apt. Most people are not ordering a $100 steak (and while we're being food snobs, any steak that expensive should be rare at most), we're ordering t-bones.

For the small percentage of people that actually go to that kind of fine sushi dining, this is probably already preaching to the converted.

I respect the essence of this post, but I don't much care for the tone. I'm not so sure that you can differentiate between sushi and something like a hamburger; after all a hamburger is ALL about the beef. Sushi is just traditional japanese food - nothing magical about it; the rest is just hipster magic - it's big in Oregon.

I would never pass the test to be allowed to even sit at the bar!

This is not true, a hamburger for example is a experience of its parts. The toppings on a burger define it as much as the meat used, which is why we have burger joints littering the US with each having its own unique take on the burger.

Sushi is an experience of the fish, it is defined at its core by the delicate preparation and the art that goes into creating it. Each piece is created to stimulate the palate, and slopping on soy and wasabi would be the equivalent of saying the Mona Lisa would look better touched up with finger paints.

Eat it however you "like it", but don't begin to argue that its the right way to eat sushi.

Also Hipster implies that sushi is not mainstream, which isn't true, its very common in any areas with an ounce of culture and is easier to find that foods of other cultures (turkish and indian food are actually harder to find in my neck of the woods).

@arekin "Eat it however you "like it", but don't begin to argue that its the right way to eat sushi."

See the the thing is, I'm not the one making this claim, I'm saying that "the right way to eat it" is a silly notion. It's like when people take coffee way to seriously.

Okay, so you don't think there is a right way to eat it? Let me put it like this, the chef is creating a dish with a specific flavor in mind that he wishes you to experience. When you eat your sushi with a large amount of soy and wasabi, you are getting a completely different experience than what is intended. While this may be the experience that you find most enjoyable, it is still not the experience that was given to you and thus you have taken that experience away from the artist. Finger painting the Mona Lisa may be fun, but its not the picture Da Vinci gave us. By "wrong way" we are saying not the way intended by the artist. While you may feel this is incorrect, it is technically the intended way to experience the dish, and thus "right way" would be the correct phrasing.

@ gwiz and arekin-While I tend to distrust "experts" or any kind, especially the self-described or those deemed worthy by others relying upon them for their "superior knowledge", you can't dismiss a culture's preference for simple details with regard to their culinary heritage. The Japanese imltho, are allowed passes on their anal attention to details regarding their cultural heritage after all, they took two for the team-

My own sushi would not be deemed worthy by most Japanese, but most Americans I serve it to act like they've just seen majolica performed when I prepare it and they partake.

The "right" way offers the experience as closely as it was intended by the culture, and the "wrong" way offers the Hindi version of "Star Wars" as a culinary experience., and I've had some shit sushi in my day, mostly prepared by white people. Oh, and a proper Japanese would never put that fake-ass artificial crab-pollock shit in their handrolls, either!

I like both ways, because I'm a fucking goat and would eat cardboard or tin if prepared suitably. I try to however, prepare and consume sushi according to tradition, and find it the most satisfying for the sushi experience. I am constantly trying to improve upon my rice according to the Japanese standards and practices-If you ace the rice, the rest is a cake-walk.

Oh yeah, and if you drink anything but black coffee, yer effeminate.

Oh yeah, and Oregon. Lived in Portland before the mainstream Hipster-hijack, back when pretentious hippy-douchebag was in the incubation stages (1991-2).

Yeah, a lotta good sushi to be had there and the primary reason?? Pretentious kids from all over the country flocked to the land of no sunshine to escape the repression of their upbringing brokered by their disillusioned hippie parents who drank the Babylonian Kool-Aid at University (incubator for ineffectual putties), to bask in the aroma of their own farts.

You'd fit right in there gwiz

Way too seriously? Or you mean, people who appreciate the finer details? I find people who think others "take it too seriously" just don't appreciate things enough.

Now, there are snobs and pretentiousness abounding. But that doesn't mean those of use who actually understand the meaning, history and complexity of certain things, such as sushi or coffee, doesn't mean your lack of understanding and appreciation devalues anything for us. Quite the contrary.

You'd probably be the one to say my spending $4,000 on a cheap mountain bike is pretentious or taking it way too seriously, but unless you're "serious" about what you enjoy, you can't appreciate the differences it makes. Aside from that, you may as well just blend everything together into a mush and drink it through a straw. Don't want to get too serious about eating my food after all.

@arekin @NinjaInHeat -

"Sushi is all about the fish." False. Sushi is as much about the rice as the fish. In fact, it literally means "vinegared rice." Certainly the fish is important, however my understanding is that much of the subtlety that distinguishes various chefs is their preparation of the rice, not the fish. This may be why it is more acceptable to apply wasabi and soy to sashimi rather than to nigiri or maki. So yea, it's like a hamburger on a really fancy bun. I still want my barbecue sauce.

You are quite welcome to take whatever you want super seriously, but don't impose that seriousness on anyone else.

There's a difference between wanting to do thing right and wanting other people to do things right.

What this video suggests and what the responses to me also suggest, is "this is the correct way and no one should eat it differently or they're idiots!" instead of "this way makes it a whole lot better and is what the chefs and locals recommend". There's a slight difference between the two - one is a helpful suggestion guiding you to a better experience, the other is being a dick.

There's also a subtle difference in people wanting to do thing right for themselves, and people who want to have other people know that they know the correct way of doing it. This is what I so subtly referred to as hipster earlier - they don't do it because it's necessarily better, but because sushi is so vogue right now, and all those other slobs just eat it in the most hilarious manner; just look at those wage collectors - now let me get back to my chai mocca, lined with the finest honey, the container of which I happen to have standing on my desk at the coffee place where I'm writing my novel on a 2007 Macbook..

Writing a novel on a Macbook at a coffee haus sipping a chai mocha?? Duuuuude, that has hipster written all over it!.....A hipster in geek's clothing who eats his sushi like someone form a trailer park in Alabama!!

Correct. Sushi is actually the rice, not the fish. Nigiri is the fish. However, much as we ask someone to pass a Klenex when we mean a tissue paper . . . But you are correct in the "if you're going to be nitpicky, at least be correct." lol

What you have a problem with is simply his presentation, correct? Or am I right in thinking you're upset that he's simply telling you how to properly eat sushi?

Sometimes there is actually a correct way and a wrong way. I know, shocking. But then there's also taking liberties. If I have no utensil's I will eat with my fingers even if it's "not the right way." Or more aptly, if there's no wine glass, I'll still use a solo cup. If I had a choice, I'd choose the wine glass. Why? Because it's the proper way. Does it really add to it? Not really. It's demonstrably mostly placebo effect. Then again, does a plate make food taste different? Technically speaking, no. It should in absolutely no way effect the taste of food. But in reality, it makes a substantial difference in the way food tastes. Those who do not take the time to properly plate a meal for another person is simply wasting their time and effort. You might as well buy them a McDonalds hamburger.

But in essence, what you're saying is "because you know more than me, it's wrong for you to use it because it means I'm inferior and you're a dick because of it." Why yes Ayn Rand, I'll keep that in mind. You must hate pretty people too?

I make my coffee from a French Press because it IS better. I use local "fancy" honey because it IS better. If I keep it on my shelf where others can see doesn't make me a douche. It could mean I don't have a cabinet, or I use it often. Which I do. Now who's being a dick?

You're assumption is simply that "I'm dumb, and you're smart, therefore you're gay." Or, I'm sorry, a hipster. Right now, the hip thing is to make fun of this video. Much like the people who hate popular music just because it's popular. That's what your argument sounds like.

Just because someone enjoys something doesn't make them a hipster, a douche or a dick. And because you can't understand their enjoyment of "proper etiquette" only makes you a hipster, dick, douche when you complain. No one here is "forcing" you to eat sushi anyway differently. No one is holding a gun to your head telling you to not put soy sauce all over your rolls. I know, it's strange, but you didn't even have to watch this video. So please explain to me what exactly the problem is again?


Chamot said:
Welcome to 'How to properly make a video' by Videosift community. -- Best comment yet on here.

My assumption is that people don't do these things because they are intrinsically better (even though I can accept that they could easily be), they do it to make themselves seem important and special.

Eating sushi in "the correct way" is also not popular, the wrong way is popular - who's the one trying to avoid conforming to the peasantry now?

People make fun of this video, because it's not about teaching you how it should be done, it's about him showing off all the fancy things he knows about sushi and talking japanese; Look I'm so cool, I do it the right way. It reminds me of that hilarious application video that was spoofed by Michael Cera: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impossible_Is_Nothing_(video_r%C3%A9sum%C3%A9)

If the main point is to teach people to do something right, then teach it nicely - it's even more compounded by the level of self-importance in this thread.

Some times there's a correct way and there's another perfectly fine way - I know, shocking. People don't all like the things you like, oh gosh, say it isn't so.

You, @NinjaInHeat and @arekin (and I suppose the guy in the video) are the three amigos who want to cram the "correct sushi" down everyones' throats - I am not trying to force you to eat the regular rice-cake sushi that normal people do, you can do what you want.

In essence what you would call "correct sushi" is an entirely different dish than what is normally known as sushi, so it's sort of a silly argument in the end.

I guess my main point of contrition has nothing to do with sushi, but to do with the way in which it is presented. It stinks of aristocracy - people who know the right way and therefore snub their nose at all the others who clearly "just don't get it" - well fuck, there's not really much to get, you like to eat it in a certain way - whoopdefrickingdoo.

"You know, real hambruger is hand picked from the kobecow and processed right in front of you. And be careful to only use a light touch of ketchup as a pallate cleanser, and to convey the intended feelings of camaraderie that the chef wanted you to feel with him and his cultural heritage.. and be sure to drink plenty of Sprite - this is the way to properly enjoy hamburger, otherwise you might as well just eat some raw fish or something like a fucking retard who don't even know that you only lightly dip the corner of the bun in grey poupon mustard".

Bah humbug.

No one's trying to cram anything down your throat, like I said, eat whatever and however the fuck you want to.

Yea the guy in the vid has a pretty strong douchebag vibe to him, and yea he goes about making his point not in the most delicate way. That doesn't change the fact that most of what he says is more or less true.

This isn't about your personal preference, it's about how Sushi, the dish (and Nigiri and Sashimi and whatever) is meant to be eaten, in order to be able to fully appreciate the taste of raw fish.

Again, like it or not, raw fish isn't hamburger or cornflakes or whatever. Being able to appreciate a good slice of raw fish requires that, for example, you don't put fucking ginger on top of it, the whole point of it being there is to cleanse the pallet between the different fish you're eating, so you'll be able to properly taste them - when you put it on top of the fish you're basically guaranteeing that you won't be able to feel the taste. It's there for a practical reason, not as a condiment. Same goes for dipping the entire thing in soy sauce, or whatever.
Even his point about eating with your hands as opposed to chopsticks is sorta valid. Many above-average sushi dishes WILL fall apart when you try and pick them up with chopsticks.

And no, you don't have to go to a 5 Michelin starred restaurant to be able to get a good dish of raw fish. Even a market stand will do if the fish are fresh.

At least realize that this "stench of aristocracy" you're referring to is a Western phenomenon, and you perceive it as such because generally it's much more common to see stuck-up pedantic bastards being strict about these kinds of things, as opposed to most people who just wanna shove crap in their mouths and have it taste "yummy".
That doesn't change the fact that these assholes didn't invent the way sushi is "meant" to be eaten, that there is a difference between a piece of fresh fish and one that's been frozen for months, and that that delicate difference, to be noticeable and appreciable has to be shown the proper respect.
Or you can just deep fry it.

Seems like there's a lot of over reaction going on here.

It's pretty obvious this guy is talking specifically about eating at high end, absurdly expensive sushi restaurants. If anything, he fails to be specific about this because he's the type of person who doesn't understand there's any other type of sushi out there.

Here's a fact though; if you go to a stupid expensive restaurant of any type, you're generally not going to find condiments sitting on the table. Why? Because the food was prepared by a chef with a specific flavor in mind. That is exactly why you're paying so much fucking money to eat there!
If you order $75 mac-n-cheese made with white truffle shavings and 5 types of imported "fromage", you're not eating somewhere with salt sitting on the table.

Most sushi restaurants are serving the tastes of their local market. So, ignore everything this guy says and eat it any way you like. But if you happen to find yourself as a guest at an absurdly expensive sushi restaurant (or macaroni-n-cheesery), maybe try sampling the food the way it was prepared.

Well fuck me gwiz, I completely missed the situational irony in your description of the hipster's writing process at the coffee haus....Got me!! (Sounded like something I would have imagined you were engaged in and ya totally bamboozled me!!)

YOINKS!
We share then in common a disdain for so-lauded or self-appointed "experts" AND hippie-wannabees!!

http://en.ilovecoffee.jp/posts/view/89

The non-dick way.