Sashimi - Serving

Serving

Sashimi often is the first course in a formal Japanese meal, but it can also be the main course, presented with rice and miso soup in separate bowls. Many Japanese people believe that sashimi, traditionally considered the finest dish in Japanese cuisine, should be eaten before other strong flavors affect the palate. Culinarily, sashimi represents the Japanese cultural appreciation of subtlety. The finer sensation can vary from salmon to squid and everything in between.

The sliced seafood that composes the main ingredient is typically draped over a garnish. The typical garnish is Asian white radish, daikon, shredded into long thin strands, accompanied by one green perilla leaf per slice. Wasabi paste is sometimes mixed directly into soy sauce as a dipping sauce, which is generally not done when eating sushi, however. Purists denounce the practice of mixing wasabi into soy sauce, saying that this dilutes the sharp hot flavor of wasabi. Another way to flavor soy sauce with wasabi is to place the wasabi mound into the soy sauce dish and then pour it in. This allows the wasabi to infuse the soy sauce more subtly. A reputed motivation for serving wasabi with sashimi (and also gari, pickled ginger), besides its flavor, is killing harmful bacteria and parasites that could be present in raw seafood. Other garnishes, more common in Japan than overseas, include red water pepper sprouts beni-tade (紅蓼?) and a small chrysanthemum kogiku (小菊?). The chrysanthemum, unlike other garnishes, is not intended to be eaten, and in cheap service (such as at supermarkets) may be substituted with a plastic flower.

Sashimi is normally served only with a dipping sauce (soy sauce with wasabi paste or such condiments as grated fresh ginger, or, for meat sashime, ponzu), and such garnishes as shiso and shredded daikon radish. Dimensions vary but are typically about 2.5 cm (1") wide by 4 cm (1.5") long by 0.5 cm (0.2") thick.