FOOD AND RESTAURANTS

SUSHI is Japanese most important and healthy food. Sushi does not mean raw fish, it involves vinegared Rice with many ingredients mixed like vegetables, egg, cooked or raw fish. The most simple and popular kind of Sushi is "Nigiri-Zushi"........a finger of rice topped with fish fillets. Sushi is surprisingly very filling and can make a meal in itself, a quick snack or a perfect party food. In Japan it is popular for lunch or with drinks after work.

SUSHI BAR
The best place to enjoy Sushi is under the eyes of the chef in a real Sushi-Ya (Sushi Restaurant). In Japan usually the restaurants are small with a dozen of chairs, so in case you want to enjoy the meal without any mess, reserve your  table in advance. The waiter will first give you a seat then gives a hot towel for your hands, take order for drinks and Sushi. There is another option, you can sit at the counter close to the kitchen desk where you can eat Sushi piece by piece as and when it is made. And in a Kaiten-Zushi Bar (Automated Sushi Bar) you can help yourself from the conveyor belt.
To become a Sushi Shoku-nin (Technician/Expert) it takes years of apprenticeship, and a commitment to perfection. A chef has to carefully choose the fish from the market,  advicing, hospitality and fierceness are all part of his tradition............with all this qualities you will respect  that chef and enjoy the excellent Sushi meal. Little snacks and extras may appear for his favourite customers.

HOW TO ORDER SUSHI
The moment you enter a Sushi Bar you are the guest of the chef. You can ask him "Kyo Wa Nani Ga Osusume, Desu Ka?".......means "what is good for today?" Or you can let him choose according to your budget. Usually for 2000-3000 Yen you get  2 pieces of Sushi. In an Automated Sushi bar the plates are cunningly coded by design or colour to tell you what you have eaten.

CHOOSING A SUSHI
There is no rules for eating Sushi but the best way to start  and to appreciate the subtle flavour os Sushi is to  choose something very light, white fish and later you can move on to fatty and rich fish. But it is always advisable to take chef's advice as to which fish are plump and in season. In case you have restricted your diet or you are a vegetarian you can tell the chef in advance what you cannot eat. To finish the meal sweet Tamago-Yaki (Egg Omelette) is often eaten with or without rice, like a desert.

HOW TO EAT SUSHI
Sushi is eaten usually by Chopsticks, but it is said that sushi tastes better when eaten by hand. Pour  a little soya sauce dip the toppings carefully hold it in your chopsticks and just eat it. You can add root vegetables to the soya sauce or even fish to make it taste good. But see to it that you do not add the sushi in a lot of soya sauce, it means to drown the chef's creation and to lose his respect.

DRINKS AND SOUP
The classic drink with Sushi in Japan is Green Tea (Nihan-Cha), which is usually complimentary. Other alternatives is beer and  Sake (Brewed Rice Wine). Sushi bars also offers you different kinds of Miso-Shiru (soups) to be slurped from the bowl between Sushi pieces. Fish stock is traditional, but the elegant  O-Suimono (clear soup) will contain wheat gluten and occasionally chicken stock.
 

TYPES OF SUSHI Sushi varies from region to region. Osaka is the home for Oshi-Zushi ( vinegared rice+seafood pressed in wooden moulds) and for Bo-Zushi ( rice wrapped in fish). Sugata-Zushi is served with rice and fish with its complete  head and tail. Specialties have also appeared outside Japan like California - maki where crab or fishcake is rolled inside the rice, which sometimes is coated with bright orange tobiko (flying fish roe). A classic Sushi is with Tuna fish, which is soft, Fatty with meaty taste. You can keep this for many days in soya sauce, but now usually served fresh.

Different kinds of fish you can choose with rice combination

Tuna belly fish-most expensive, very fatty, meltingly soft, darker in colour
Brill fish-delicate taste, very firm when fresh
Sea bass fish-very tasty in season.
Yellowtail fish- ocean going fish, very popular, rich and smoky taste
Prawn shell fish-usually lightly boiled
Horse mackerel fish-good against cholesterol, served with ginger
Mackerel fish-strong taste,  usually marinated with salt and vinegar
Squid shell fish-smooth flesh becomes sticky on chewing, served with lemon and salt
Octopus-boiled with tea or broth, only tentacles are used for sushi, when chewed releases full flavour.
Abalone fish- very expensive, chewy flesh, steamed in sake or broth
Scallop shellfish- looks like a ship's sail, served raw with lemon
Gaper shellfish-long muscular siphon
Cockle shell fish-called chicken shell for its taste and dark pointy beak like end, very chewy
Ark fish-crisp, sweet, expensive
Fresh water eel fish-very tasty, eaten on solar day for good health during the hot summer
Herring roe-traditional new year fish, marinated in broth and soya sauce, expensive
Flying fish roe-tiny salty eggs
Sea urchin roe-strong taste, expensive

 HEALTH
Japanese have long life then compared to the  rest of the world, this is because they eat healthy food.  Like most of the seafood sushi is rich in and high in vitamins and low in saturated fats. Even fatty fish have fewer calories per gram than chicken, and many actually help reduce cholesterol. Sushi is associated with Japanese regular diet with very low rates of heart diseases. Nature's little secrets are also used to ensure that the raw fish is safe to eat. Sushi is prepared according to the needs of each species, and root vegetables, venegar and the bamboo leaves decorates are all natural antiseptics.

USEFUL PHRASES WHEN YOU GO TO A SUSHI BAR
 

Oishii sushi-ya o gozonji ka? Can you recommend a good sushi bar?	Kai/unagai wa tabesen I do not eat shell fish/eel
San-nin suwaremasuka? Can you seat 3 people	Watashi wa bejiterian desu I am a vegetarian
Dorekurai machimasuka? How long is the wait?	Sabi nuki de onegai shimasu Without root vegetables please
Ni-sen no omakase de I rely on you (chef) for a bill of 2000 yen	Gochiso-sama deshita I am full! That was delicious
Sumimasen! Excuse me!	Tabako o sutte i desuka? May I smoke?
Magura/o-cha/mizu o kudasai I did like tea/water please	Okanjo onegai shimasu? May I have the bill Please?

RESTAURANTS

BARBECUE LUNCH
If you are interested in Barbecue lunch Visit Chinzanso Restaurant in tokyo. Experience the steaming hot lunch of Barbecue right on your table.

TABLE D'HOTE LUNCH
Enjoy the true Japanese  an occidental lunch at the Pastel -Tei.

KABUKIZA THEATER
You can have a Japanese dinner at Kabukiza theater

KUSHIAGE LUNCH AT GINZA ISOMURA
Enjoy Kushiage lunch in a traditional Japanese atmosphere. Kushiage is a morsels of meat, fish and vegetables coated with very fine bread crumbs on skewers, accompanied by soybean sauce, salad, light pickled vegetables, rice and dessert.
 

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