How to recognize good sushi?

Restaurants which serve sushi differ significantly in the quality of dishes and their prices. How to know if the dish you have just ordered deserves its price?

First of all – freshness

Sushi is a characteristic dish, especially in Europe, since fish is rarely eaten raw. In this dish, however, raw salmon, tuna, eel or seafood is almost the most important ingredient in most types of rolls. There is no doubt that the ingredients for sushi should be sourced from the best, certified suppliers who systematically test the fish sent for sale for raw consumption. It is not always possible for a restaurant guest to verify the supplier, but they can always make sure that the roll they are served is fresh. Ideally, they should have a chance to see how it is prepared by a sushi master. However, you should always check the freshness of the fish simply by smelling it before you eat it. The characteristic “fishy” smell, which indicates spoilage, is unacceptable. Fish served in sushi should smell of fresh meat and fat, which is a sign that it was caught recently and stored and transported in proper conditions.

Sushi is good when all its ingredients are fresh. This is a dish which, in principle, will taste very similar everywhere in the world if it is prepared according to strict Japanese rules, the most important of which is absolute freshness. No spices are used in this dish, apart from soy sauce and wasabi, which are, however, dosed by the customer himself, so it is not like Polish bigos – which, despite similar ingredients, tastes different in each house.

What else is important in sushi?

Since the ingredients used in sushi may vary slightly from restaurant to restaurant, it is worth focusing on other factors that will make the sushi in our eyes seem more authentic than others. First of all, it is the price. Tuna, salmon or eel or seafood of the highest quality, i.e. coming from cold northern seas and from farms with conditions close to natural ones cost a lot which translates into a higher price in the restaurant. It is not worth saving money, because very cheap sushi is probably of poor quality. On the other hand, you cannot overpay – because artificially raising prices is not the responsibility of any sushi enthusiast or restaurateur.

If the sushi is prepared by a real sushi master with many years of experience, such as Nobu Restaurant in Warsaw, the restaurant will not fail to boast about it, because this is something to be proud of. If you choose a restaurant with a moderate price range but a real sushi master, you can be sure that your sushi will be prepared in accordance with the Japanese culinary art, i.e. as fresh as possible, painstakingly meticulously and precisely as if from a ruler! This is the best way to recognize excellent quality sushi.