Sashimi

Assorted sashimi

Sashimi (Japanese: 刺身, lit. "pierced body") is a Japanese delicacy primarily consisting of very fresh raw seafoods, thinly sliced into pieces about 2.5 cm (1 inch) wide by 4 cm (1½ inches) long by 0.5 cm (¼ inch) thick, and served with only a dipping sauce (like soy sauce with hot wasabi paste and thinly sliced ginger root, or ponzu sauce), and a simple garnish like shiso and shredded daikon radish. Some sashimi ingredients, like octopus, are sometimes served cooked due to its rather chewy nature when raw. Most seafood, like tuna, salmon, and squid, are served raw. Less common, but not unusual, sashimi ingredients are vegetarian items such as yuba (bean curd skin) and raw red meats, such as beef or horse. The name sashimi may have come from the practice of sticking the tail of the fish on the slices, to let it be known which fish one was eating.

Sashimi is often the first course in a formal Japanese meal, but also often served as a main course with rice and Miso soup in separate bowls. Many people believe that sashimi, traditionally considered the finest dish in Japanese cuisine, should be eaten before other strong flavours affect the palate. Sashimi is appreciated due to its refined subtlety of taste and the strong Japanese cultural sensitivity to the finer subtle and sensuous textures of food, expressed in the sensual nature of raw fish which is quite delicate in flavour, but varies greatly in sensation, from the slippery but firm melting nature of salmon, to the creamy warm-like gelatinous character of squid and everything in-between depending on the fish.

Sashimi is sometimes served with sushi. Japanese people often mix wasabi paste directly into soy sauce when preparing dipping sauces for sashimi, which is generally not done when eating sushi. However, some purists denounce the practice of mixing Wasabi into soy sauce, saying that this dilutes the sharp hot flavour of Wasabi. The wasabi is put in soy sauce because it is supposed to kill harmful bacteria on the raw fish.

Some of the most popular Sashimi are:

鮭 Sake: Salmon
いか Ika: Squid
えび Ebi: Cooked Shrimp
まぐろ Maguro: Tuna
さば Saba: Mackerel
たこ Tako: Octopus
とろ Toro: Fatty Tuna
はまち Hamachi: Yellowtail

Tataki, (たたき or 叩き lit. "pounded"), is a type of sashimi. The name comes from the fact that sliced onion is placed on top of the uncut piece of fish and tapped with the side of the cutting blade to transfer the flavor. Also it is quickly and lightly seared outside, leaving it still raw inside.

Sashimi-style dishes are not unique to Japan. For instance, the Finnish joulupöytä usually contains sashimi-like slices of salmon, whitefish or pikeperch. Gravlax, raw salmon cured in herbal brine, can also be considered as variant of sashimi.

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Sashimi

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