A Beginner's Guide to Eating Sushi

You may be curious about what the sushi part of the Japanese cuisine is like. If you haven’t or have only recently gone to a cheap sushi buffet Dubai, you would want to learn what other kinds of sushi are prepared and how it may taste like. Here’s some guidelines for eating a good sushi dish.

An Introduction to Sushi

To put it simply, sushi is a very large and famous part of Japanese cuisine. It is a savory cold dish that primarily comprises rice and seafood. It may also have egg and vegetables. These are only the basic ingredients of sushi. Some of its varieties may be a lot more elaborate than that. It takes a skilled chef to make sushi right. If you're not a fan of raw fish, you can always try the vegetarian sushi variety. We guarantee that it is just as delicious as its non-vegetarian variant.

The origin of sushi is traced back to China. It came from the idea that cooked rice could preserve fish by fermentation. It was popularized in Japan as sushi between the 8th and 10th centuries. At the same time, Buddhism was also on the rise and its followers were known to not consume meat and opting for vegetarian food like rice or simple vegetables instead, and sometimes fish. This boosted the popularity of sushi. There have been many changes to sushi through the years.

Sushi for Beginners

The menu might look confusing but worry not because here’s four basic variants of sushi you should know of: 

Nigiri - This is by far the oldest kind of sushi. It is a dish with raw fish placed on top of rice cubes.

Maki - This is made of the trifecta of rice, fish and vegetables, all of them balled up in a sheet of seaweed known as Nori. You can also have it in the shape of a cone.

Chirashi - This kind of sushi is simple. It is just a bowl of vinegared rice accompanied by toppings of fish and vegetables.

Sashimi - This is a slender slice of raw fish that is served with a side of rice.

Ordering Tips

If you have never been to a sushi restaurant or Japanese restaurant before, then we suggest you bring along friends who have. Let the chef know that it is your first-time trying sushi. If you are at a decent sushi restaurant, then the chef will go the extra mile to give you a memorable experience. Sushi is extremely delicious even with the most basic ingredients. For ordering sushi, you could start with more basic items to identify the flavors you prefer. This way, you can know which variety of sushi you might like the most. You may find a type that you don’t like but that’s okay. You can just go back to having something you know. 

Have fun trying new kinds of sushi!