For the Japanese, cooking sushi, sashimi and rolls with their bare hands is just as normal as eating them with their hands without sticks.
The sushi chef must feel the correct temperature of the rice. The rice should be warm, airy and properly seasoned. This rice, when soaked in soy sauce, quickly falls apart. Therefore, the Japanese never overdo it with soy sauce, adding it just a little bit in the gravy boat, covering the sauce only the bottom. The most common mistake of foodies outside of Japan in the process of tasting rolls and sushi is an excessive passion for soy sauce, which sometimes drowns out the main taste of fresh fish.
How to dip sushi/rolls in soy sauce?
1) fish in sauce (not rice). When we dip airy rice in soy sauce, it almost always falls apart, which is absolutely natural, so the Japanese dip the top part of the sushi in the sauce, only slightly touching the sauce;
2) use ginger by dipping it in soy sauce and then dipping the fish with ginger. This method will be recommended to you if you visit one of the most authentic sushi bars in Tokyo, which is run by Jiro Ono in his 90 years. Despite its location on the Tokyo subway, this bar has as many as 3 Michelin stars.
Too much ginger kills the taste of fish. Use a small amount to refresh your taste buds between meals. No need to put ginger or wasabi on a roll or sushi, thus you do not give yourself a chance to taste the product itself.
II. More doesn't mean better.
"The bigger the roll is the tastier" — the Japanese would never understand this philosophy. After all, sushi is a delicacy, and the farther from the sea you eat fresh fish, the more expensive this delicacy is. Sushi and rolls should be the size of a single bite, and rice should fall apart in your mouth. The roll should be small and neat, not huge from the amount of rice in it. Sushi and rolls can not be a way to save money, otherwise you either do not eat fish, or its quality suffers. Adaptations on the theme of rolls and sushi are very popular both in America and in Russia, often guests appreciate the rolls for their huge size and a quick sense of saturation after large lumps of rice, but such interpretations have no connection with real Japanese cuisine, where simplicity and minimalism are the main principles. Therefore, Japanese cuisine is a light meal consisting more of protein and fat than carbohydrates.
III. Don't let sushi for a long time coming.
There is nothing more delicious than a piece of fresh roll just made for you. If you order rolls and sushi at the table, it is better to order them in different courses. First, some sushi, then the rolls. If you place an order for delivery, it is better to order immediately by the time of lunch or dinner. When you store the rolls in the refrigerator, the rice changes its temperature, becomes cold, loses its airiness and gets wet.