Chef Nobu Matsuhisa Photo : Ali Balli/Anadolu Agency ( Getty Images )

I’ve eaten sushi enough that I feel like a bit of a badass when I get to sit down at a restaurant for one of my favorite meals: scraping the chopsticks, going for the low-sodium soy sauce, putting wasabi in my soy sauce like a real pro. Right? Apparently not, according to this fascinating Business Insider video that shows legendary sushi chef and owner of Nobu Restaurants Group And Hotels, Nobu Matsuhisa, showing how to eat sushi the traditional Japanese way.

Turns out I was doing several things nontraditionally, including:



1. Put the wasabi right on the fish

First off, Matsuhisa doesn’t put any wasabi in his soy sauce. My mind’s kind of blown, there, honestly. Instead, if you really want extra wasabi (some is already added to your sushi, he points out), just put it right on the piece of fish.


2. Only dunk the fish part in soy sauce.

With a nice half-turn of his chopsticks, Matsuhisa then takes care to only dunk the fish part of his sushi piece in soy sauce, not the rice part. With rolls, though, there’s no way around dunking the rice in there, but again, the chef suggests just a little bit.


3. Use the ginger as a palette cleanser

Finished your piece of salmon and on your way to an unagi roll? Eat a piece of ginger in between to help clear your palette for your next bite.

4. Everything gets eaten in one bite

Sometimes it may seem easier to go for two bites on your sushi roll, but Matsuhisa advises against it. Everything should be eaten in one, he says.


5. End with something light

For the final roll, after all that fatty fish, Matsuhisa suggests maybe a cucumber roll or other veggie sushi versions to finish on a lighter note.


My next sushi lunch is going to be markedly different from my last one after watching this video. That wasabi in the soy sauce is going to be a hard habit to break, though. But basically, this video just reminds me that it’s been way too long since I’ve had sushi. Nothing like America’s most famous Japanese chef to make it look even more amazing.