Sushi Set nigiri and sushi rolls on wooden serving board with soy sauce and chopsticks over white marble background. Flat lay. space. Japan menu. (Photo by: Natasha Breen/REDA&CO/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Food - Drink
Why You Should Think Twice Before Mixing Wasabi Into Your Soy Sauce
By KATHERINE BECK
A few rules for eating sushi are common sense: wash your hands beforehand, place your wooden chopsticks on a plate instead of directly on the table, and don't drown anything in soy sauce. Still, before you dig in, you also should know how to handle the little mound of green wasabi on your plate.
Many diners like to mix wasabi directly into their dish of soy sauce, but this is not the "proper" method. Instead, grab a piece of sushi and dip it into each of the condiments separately; if your piece is a slice of fish on rice, dip it fish-side down, and if it's a roll, dip it gingerly, since rolls usually absorb whatever they touch.
Most traditional sushi restaurants in Japan use pure wasabi, unlike in the U.S., where "wasabi" is often a mix of horseradish and food coloring. At these traditional restaurants, it's also likely that wasabi has already been added to each piece of sushi, but if you want to add more, use a chopstick to spread it very lightly.