50 Sushi Tips For Beginners

For most Los Angeles residents, especially those who grew up in the Southland, sushi is a given. Good sushi isn’t hard to find, and even cheap sushi can be perfectly acceptable at the right location. Therefore, I forget sometimes that in other parts of the country sushi is much harder to come by. In parts of the Midwest, where I come from, raw fish is still considered taboo by many people. It’s a shame really, since sushi is one of the world’s most perfect fast foods.

This post is intended for the sushi beginner. I recently came across a great article on another blog entitled 50 Sushi Tips for Beginners. The tips are targeted at those people who are familiar with sushi dining but might still be a bit intimidated by the protocols that come with the territory.

For one thing, sushi does not always contain raw fish. In fact, some of the best sushi around has no fish at all. This and other health tips like “never eat the purple tuna” and “never eat day old sushi” might be handy to a sushi rookie.

But the most useful parts of the article concern proper etiquette. While I don’t personally go in for the really minute (crazy) etiquette, there are certain standards that any diner should consider following, like “never stick chopsticks straight up in a rice bowl.” One of the tips is a lesser-known one that both young and grown up kids should enjoy: “chopsticks are optional.” That’s my personal favorite.