How different is the way we eat sushi in Western society to the original Japan?
For example, in Japan, wasabi is only served with sashimi and not sushi, whereas pickled ginger is only served with sushi and not sashimi.
In Western countries, one will commonly – and incorrectly – see both wasabi and ginger piled onto both plates.
As for the common habit of stirring the wasabi into the soy sauce, a sushi chef would cringe internally and say to himself, “that is not the way to eat sushi. For sushi, the wasabi should be used inside the preparation, either smeared lightly between the rice and the fish in nigiri sushi or on the fish rolled around the rice in the maki.” It is regarded as bad manners to add anything to the sushi served to you by a qualified sushi chef. After all the sushi chef has served a long apprenticeship to perfect his art.
When eating maki rolls and nigiri sushi, the correct etiquette is to use your hands. When eating nigiri sushi, always flip the sushi over – only the fish, and never the rice, should touch the soy sauce. Ginger is eaten between different rolls to cleanse the palate.
When eating sashimi, the correct method is to start with the lightest-tasting fish and finish with the heaviest, picking up a small dab of wasabi with chopsticks and placing it on the piece of fish before dipping it – lightly – in the soy sauce. Ginger is frowned upon with sashimi, yet is so common in Western countries that it has become the accepted norm.