Sushi Eaters -- I Have a Question for You

I've always been told that fingers are perfectly appropriate and I am a mouth-stuffer...otherwise it all falls in my cleavage.

I use chopsticks when out and fingers at home. Some things stay together enough to take 2 bites others it is easier to eat in one bite.

To be polite and have etiquette about it:

1) It is OK to eat nigiri or hand-rolled sushi with your fingers.
Sashimi (raw fish) is only to be eaten with your chopsticks.
Sashimi, is NOT the same as "sushi." It is a different thing all together.
Sashimi, is plated raw fish sans rice.

2) Pick up the sushi and dip the fish side into your shoyu, not the rice (which will soak up too much shoyu AND makes it fall apart).

3) NEVER pick up a piece of food from another person’s plate with the end of the chopsticks you put in your mouth. ALWAYS use the other end of the chopstick. The thicker end of it.

4) Eat sushi in one bite. And as Mum4ever said: you politely put your hand in front of your mouth if need be, as you put the sushi in your mouth. This is a politeness gesture, per Asian culture.

5) The accompanying Ginger, is a palate cleanser and eaten between bites or different types of sushi. It is not meant to be eaten in the same bite as a piece of sushi.

6) When eating Soba/ramen/noodles, making slurping sounds is fine and considered appropriate.

7) For soups, ie: Miso Soup. If you are not given a spoon for your soup, do not ask for one. You are expected to pick up your bowl to drink the soup, using your chopsticks to direct the solid pieces to your mouth.

8) NEVER stick your chopsticks into the rice, stabbing it or leaving it sticking up in the rice/sushi or rice bowl. BAD manners.

I don't know how to use chopsticks and I have no interest in learning. With that said, I eat my sushi with my fingers. I would NEVER dream of picking it up with a fork. This is a hands-on food. If the sushi is small enough to fit into my mouth with one bite, then I do that but most sushi is too large for just one bite and I take how ever many bites it requires to eat it. You won't look like fool. Yes, sometimes the sushi falls apart...just scoop up the remnants with your fingers and enjoy!

i usually eat the rolls not the type you're talking about. i have had it once, and i used chopsticks. I also stuffed the whole thing in my mouth or i would have never eaten it. i was scared to try it. lol. but now you have me wanting sushi. i think that is something i will do when i get my tax return. go for a sushi date with the fiance. lol

When you eat a roll (California), you eat it all at once - however I don't b/c it won't all fit in my mouth. If it is a sashimi or nigiri you take bites. When at a restaurant, use chopsticks!

I always use chopsticks and cram. lol. I'm not sure about the fingers vs. chopstics protocol, but I know that you are supposed to eat the whole thing... otherwise it will fall apart, and you don't get the correct combination of flavors and textures. :P

I always use the chopsticks and do not know for sure which is more appropriate, the fingers or the chopsticks....but I do know for sure that you pop the WHOLE thing in at once!

Mmmmm!

~Edit~
Your not gonna look like a fool silly! It will be fine, relax and enjoy...if all else fails watch what your friend or others around you are doing first!

When I lived in Japan, I always saw chopsticks being used...so that's how I eat them and it doesn't fall apart. It might be how you're holding it and I also put the whole thing in my mouth. Now the big ones, I might use my fingers because it's too big and round for chopsticks and the grip isn't too good. But for the smal ones, I use chopsticks and eat it whole...it tastes better, lol.

I use my chopsticks to pick it up and bring it to my mouth. I also bite into it and eat 1/2 at a time. My friend who first introduced me to sushi is from Thailand but had travelled to Japan several times. I kind of just followed what I observed her doing since I figured that she knew the culture well enough and probably knew what she was doing.

The website ehow.com has tons of articles on just about everything. You can probably find a sushi ettiquette article there.

The only sushi I eat are sushi rolls, I dip the whole thing in soy sauce, and pop the whole thing in my mouth. I do not try to bite off a piece. The seaweed wrap is too rubbery to break when you try to bite it.

Reading the answers makes me REALLY hungry for sushi! I use my chopsticks and try to eat it all in one bite.

Hmmmm, cant' wait to see your answers! I always use chopsticks and cram whole thing in my mouth, so does the hubs-but I've wondered about this before. I visited Japan, and forgot to watch how they did it! Would be good to know for future social settings....

I eat it the way I want I want to... enjoy it, dont over analyze it. If its easier with fingers, it's easier with fingers. Let us not struggle to do things that can be done easily. We have lots of battles in life, dinner shouldnt be one of them. This is AMERICA, we do what we want to here.

I love you ask, this is one of those questions I always forget to ask until is too late. I remember when my now husband took me to a very fancy Sushi place in Cancun.
I did try to use the chopsticks (which I fail) and after trying to bite into one and broke all over, I start eatting the whole things, I don't know if I have a small face or those sushis were giants but it was a nightmare, lol. Now I don't care and just enjoy them.

Definitely use chopsticks - no fingers. It is much easier to ask for fresh, or new wooden chopsticks too. Don't use metal or plastic chopsticks provided at the table. Ask for clean ones in the paper.

And my Korean MIL, who lived in Japan and speaks Japanese fluently, uses the free hand to create a little privacy while she opens her mouth wide and pops the whole piece in and keeps her hand covering her mouth for the first few chews. If it is just too big for that, then use the chopsticks like two knives to separate into a more manageable bite size piece.

When I was in Japan I always saw people use chopsticks (definitely always for sashimi).

I think you can eat nagiri-sushi with your hands but I haven't myself. As long as you don't dip the rice side in soy sauce I've never had a problem with it falling apart. Sometimes portions are big here so it is hard to eat in one bite.

Well...I am going to go out on a limb here...I use *gasp* a fork. I simply slide the fork under the sushi, dip it in soy/wasabi and pop the entire thing in my mouth. If there is a piece that is too big for my mouth, I leave it for my husband.

I have also used my fingers...

Yep, what Riley and S H said. You can eat it either way. But flip it over and dip the *fish* into the soy sauce, not the rice. And I do usually shove the whole thing into my mouth. If it's done well, the rice should be sticky enough that it doesn't fall apart. That's one of my dad's pet peeves about eating sushi in the US (he was born and raised in Japan and still lives there)- the rice is almost never cooked to perfection. True, sushi here can't even compare to sushi in Japan, but I'll take it any way I can get it...

You'[ve gotten responses from the experts. My friends from Japan would add that when you eat the sushi you turn fish side down on your tongue so you can actually taste the fish. Yum I'm hungry!!!