Here’s a picture of a nigiri platter my colleagues and I shared last night. Now I have heard of some sushi rules (ie only dip your fish in the soy sauce/not the rice, don’t mix wasabi into the soy sauce- I do it anyway) but had never heard there’s a rule pertaining to the order in which you eat the sushi. Apparently there’s a rule that you start with lighter tasting fish and move to heavy, fatty fish. Can anyone confirm or provide a point of reference?
For context, I jumped in straight for the toro belly and it was marvelous. Nearly gave my colleague a heart attack and he elaborated that there is a rule regarding the order in which you consume sushi. But if that were the case, would the sushi be presented in a logical progression (light to heavy) both on the tray and by the waiter? Or more importantly by the sushi chef?
by Pooty130
40 Comments
Whatever you want to eat next.
It’s food— people can have recommendations designed to heighten your enjoyment of it, and omakase chefs might use that order to try to enhance your experience
But at the end of the day, eat what you want how you want. Ginger exists as a palette cleanser for a reason
There’s no rule, but it’s best to save any stronger flavors for last and the more delicate flavors first.
I’d save the tuna for last then the salmon roe for next to last, but you do you.
Eat what you want however you want to. As long as you enjoy it, that’s all that matters.
Its like cheese – if you jump to heavier-tasting right away, when you go back to lighter flavors you will probably miss on some of the more subtle notes. Nothing a glass of water and a few minutes of waiting cannot fix tho but thats the origin if the rule afaik
I eat my favorites last, or if I’ve ordered like 3 toro and three salmon I’ll alternate, ending on whichever on feels the best. If the toro looks especially succulent it will be salmon, toro, salmon, toro, salmon, toro.
Technically, yes, at least according to the enthusiasts.
You start off with bland ones like squid and silvery ones like horse mackerel and kohada. Because if you eat tuna first, the fatty taste will linger and diminish the taste of squid/mackerel/hotate/tako/etc.
However you can use the ginger to clean the palate.
The main course will be the ones with the tare (sauce) and/or fatty ones like tuna.
At the end, finish with a sweet tamago for desert.
If you goto an omakase, they would give it to you roughly in this order.
But just enjoy and savor it!
Was there ever one? Whatever takes. But please don’t make the chef run out yelling in Japanese. Don’t start making sushi pizza.
From fish tasting light with less grease to greasy ones to blue-backed fish with high umami.
Eel or uni at almost end of the course
Although it ain’t an omakase so whatever fits your favor works, but i like to eat as such
I like to go from least to most fatty usually
Lightest to heaviest flavors, tamago at the end.
In order of richness.
Leanest to fattiest technically, and then if anything is sweet/saucy I save that for last… but really it’s whatever order YOU enjoy it in or want to have it.
> Nearly gave my colleague a heart attack and he elaborated that there is a rule regarding the order in which you consume sushi. But **if that were the case, would the sushi be presented in a logical progression (light to heavy) both on the tray and by the waiter? Or more importantly by the sushi chef?**
With an omakase course the chef would indeed be giving you one piece at a time, in a specific order.
At some restaurants if you order some sort of moriawase platter, they’ll sometimes arrange it in a certain way and say something like, “We recommend trying pieces moving from the left to the right.” As others have said, the idea is to not have something so fatty and rich up front that you have a harder time tasting the lighter stuff.
*Something I haven’t seen mentioned yet* is if you’re ordering a la carte, I suggest ordering any sort of gunkan (like the uni or ikura there) separately/last. Or maybe “going out of order” and having them first. It is such a difference when the nori has a nice light crisp snap to it, rather than sitting there getting soggy.
Of course you’re free to enjoy things the way you want. But temperature and texture and such do make a surprising difference.
I’d eat one tuna first then the other two last. Everything else is eeny meany miney moe.
Ha I’m Japanese and my family always cheapest to most expensive, so typical 😂
The colors are so appealing
I live in Japan and have been to both cheap and expensive sushi restaurants, and have never been told to eat the sushi in a specific order. Just eat it in whatever order you want.
With that said, it makes sense to eat the lighter sushi first, and work your way into heavier or more flavorful options. It’s the same with anything really, even wine.
Also, I always dip my nigiri sideways, so I get a bit on the fish and the rice. Nobody really cares and nobody has ever told me not to do it, and it’s how I enjoy it.
11 easy steps
1 – sit at the table
2 – order Sake
3- Order nigiri
4-put soy in bowl and add wasabi (in my case a lot)
5- grab chopsticks
6- drink some sake
7- Select that first piece of Uni, eat it
8-work you r way through the nigiri, carefully leaving that toro for desert
9-drink more sake
10- Smash that toro
11- drink the last of the sake
Your mileage may vary
Your colleague is correct, but then again it looks like there are three each. No need to have a heart attack. For what it is worth, most Japanese people don’t necessarily follow the rule.
Eat the food..
Shared?
Whatever feels right
Traditionally lighter milder tasting first. Then fattier stronger flavors. Then the egg. Then ramen at a hole in the wall. Then cheep beer and sours. Then night gets fuzzy. Don’t follow anyone calling on the street. Try to make the last place close to the station so you don’t have to run far to catch the last train.
Technically, the correct order is “best for last.” Anyone who disagrees is an uncultured savage.
Probably one at a time
Where is this? Looks delicious!
🙄
Lighter/Leaner to “heavier”/fattier/oilier
My sister-in-law and mother-in-law tend to go most expensive items first, but that’s how they tackle life in general.
I always eat toro and uni last as they are the richest
As long as you nod while you chew I think it’s ok.
yes
I think people over exaggerate the extent to which rules exist in sushi, usually I eat the gunkan, the ones with seaweed around them first, just because waiting means that the seaweed might get soggy and i love the crisp of nori, but that’s up to you, eat what you want first, you can eat fatty stuff later if you want but just eating the ginger between pieces will clear it up nicely.
Idk I eat what I like the least first LOL (Ika)
A good sushi chef will have it set up where you eat from left to right cause it’s best for the flavor profile but that plating op posted is all over the place
Otoro last
Eat it, however it makes you happy. Personally, I’m going from light/lean/mild to flavorful/fatty. I’m putting the ikura in the middle somewhere and trying to trade my allotment of Uni for an extra piece of otoro. I don’t hate Uni, but I like it less than other sushi lovers.
All at once
Put it this way, if you were to go to an Omakase the chef wouldn’t give you the Toro belly as the 1st piece.