You can meet hot towels in many places now. They are offered in beauty salons, in institutions related to medicine, but the main ones are cafes of Japanese cuisine. This is not surprising, since the tradition of hot towels originated from Japan. Hot towels or "Osibori" are a must-see item in a sushi bar. But what are they for?
Hot towels in restaurants
Oshibori culture is gaining popularity every day. Many restaurants, trying to give their establishment weight, buy terry in huge quantities. Soft, hot towels that are pleasant to the touch are served before meals. oshibori are pleasant to the touch and allow you to replace hand washing, agree to wipe your hands with a hot towel is more pleasant than washing them in a public place.
Hot towels are often small, square, and served rolled up. This is necessary so that you can deploy them as quickly and comfortably as possible. An important part of hygiene when using hot towels is changing them regularly. During meals, towels become dirty and cool in one way or another. This is considered unacceptable by any restaurant that cares about the customer. But the client is always right. In some cases, it allows the supply of a cold towel, if the visitor requires it. To give it more atmosphere, oshibori is sometimes impregnated with aromatic oils or lemon juice.
As a tribute to tradition, many Japanese restaurants have special ovens. They help heat the towels to the correct temperature. The use of these stoves is a whole ritual, contributes to the fulfillment of hygiene standards.
Hot towels in cosmetology
We figured out what towels are for in restaurants. But why do many medical institutions seek to purchase wholesale towels from Ivanovo, and how do they use them? Cosmetology uses hot towels for hair and skin care. To saturate the skin and hair with useful substances, towels are immersed in hot water saturated with herbal extracts.
Hair wrapped in hot cloth absorbs beneficial components evenly and at the same time gives great pleasure from the process. The tradition of wrapping in hot towels has roots in many countries, for example, our ancestors used it to treat a whole range of diseases. However, now this practice is mainly used for skin and hair care and is very popular among women.
Japanese cuisine has firmly established itself in the minds and hearts of Russian gourmets: restaurants, where you can taste authentic (and not so) dishes of the Land of the Rising Sun, open almost every day. And some lovers of sushi and rolls have even mastered the art of self-cooking these delicacies.
However, not everyone knows how to eat traditional Japanese food properly. And if you want to really enjoy your meal and show off your deep knowledge of Japanese etiquette in front of your friends, do everything strictly according to the rules the next time you go to the restaurant.
Osibori
Osibori is a small wet towel rolled into a tube that is brought to the guest before meals. Its purpose is not only to wipe your hands before eating, but also, according to Eastern philosophy, to absorb all the negative emotions that have accumulated in a person. That's right: it is proper to eat food with clean hands and a clean mind. However, you should not wipe your face and other parts of your body with a towel - this is indecent. After using the oshibori, place it on a stand or just to your left.
Sticks
Of course, almost all dishes in Japan are eaten with chopsticks - hasi (disposable varibashi are usually used in restaurants). If the waiter has brought you European cutlery, move them aside with a contemptuous gesture and look offended.
Before eating, you do not need to rub a stick on a stick at all: this custom was invented by Europeans, and in Japan it is considered bad manners.
It is not customary to prick food on hasi, so it is better to practice in advance in the art of stick holding. By the way, this is not only aesthetically pleasing, but also very useful: Hashi perfectly train fine motor skills and mental abilities.
It is indecent to wander with chopsticks on a common plate, looking for a nicer piece - you need to decide in advance what you want to take. In Japan, there is an ironclad rule: if you touch food, you must eat it. Severely agree.
God forbid you to stick your chopsticks into food (especially rice): for the Japanese, this is a bad omen that promises trouble, because this is done only at funerals. There is no place for chopsticks on the plate either: there is a special stand for them - hasioki. If it is not brought, loudly indignant. You need to put the sticks on the stand with the sharp ends to the left.
Hashi clenched in a fist is a gesture of threat for the Japanese, so be very careful when sitting at a table with the citizens of the Land of the Rising Sun. Also, you should not point at someone or something with chopsticks or wave them in the air, knock on the table or plate. It is forbidden to pass food with chopsticks to another person, as well as to lick hashi or wipe them with a napkin.
Soups and hot dishes
All dishes in bowls and cups are held in the left hand at chest level while eating. However, you should not bring the cup of food too close to your mouth (unless you are drinking broth) - this is indecent.
If the dish is served in a lidded cup, it should be closed again after eating. But it is not customary to lift or move dishes on flat stands or wide plates.
Traditional Japanese soups are eaten in two stages: first, the liquid is drunk over the edge, and then the hard pieces are eaten with chopsticks. If a ceramic spoon is served with the soup, you need to eat with it.
Noodle soups are eaten in exactly the opposite way: first with chopsticks - noodles, meat and other solid ingredients, and only then they drink the broth - again over the edge.
In no case should the noodles be wound on sticks, but they are picked up by them, put in the mouth and drawn in: the squelching sound is considered natural and decent.
Sushi and rolls
Strictly speaking, sushi in Japan is any dish made with rice and vinegar. That is, rolls are also sushi. At the same time, a true fan of Japanese cuisine knows that it is correct to say “sushi”, not “sushi”. To be more precise, the second syllable is a cross between the Russian "si" and the English "shi". The same story with "sashimi" and "sashimi".
Sushi and sashimi are eaten exclusively with chopsticks. Biting off a piece of sushi or sashimi is bad form. They need to be put in the mouth as a whole, or (in extreme cases) divided into smaller pieces on a plate, and only then eat. So, nigiri sushi is allowed to be divided into rice and fish and consumed separately.
With rolls, everything is not so strict: it is allowed to take them with your hands, but only for men. Women will have to wield chopsticks: fortunately, their fine motor skills are better developed than that of the stronger sex. To make it easier to hold sushi with chopsticks, they are placed on their side and intercepted.
Ordering more than three types of sushi at a time is considered bad form: such an abundance of flavors has a bad effect on taste sensitivity.
It is customary to eat sushi with white fish first, and then with red, so that the taste of salmon or tuna does not interrupt the taste of perch or cod.
Soy sauce
Pour just a little soy sauce just to cover the bottom of the bowl, and add more if necessary. You need to dip nigiri sushi into it not with rice, but with the fish side, and only slightly so that it does not interrupt the taste of the fish. The roll can be dipped in either side of the sauce, but again - lightly. While eating, a bowl of sauce is held in the hand at chest level.
In general, you have to be careful with soy sauce. The Japanese consider any seasonings that distort the natural taste of food to be superfluous, so they do not pour a large amount of sauce into any dish.
Ginger and wasabi
Ginger is never put on food, but consumed in between different types of sushi or rolls: this allows you to refresh the taste buds and prepare them for new sensations. Naturally, you need to take ginger with chopsticks.
Wasabi in traditional Japanese cuisine is added immediately during cooking: it is placed on rice under the fish. We don't do that, so you can safely put the seasoning on top of sushi or sashimi, or dissolve it in soy sauce - whatever you like.
If you ate too much wasabi and turned into a fire-breathing dragon, do not try to suck in air with your mouth - it will only get worse. Instead, breathe in quickly and deeply through your nose - after a few seconds, the burning sensation will disappear.
And now - a little disappointment: almost all wasabi in the world (even in Japan) is just an imitation of natural. Therefore, forget about the unique beneficial properties of the seasoning that the Internet promises to you: they are possessed only by real Japanese honwasabi, which you will not find with fire this afternoon. The substitute is made from a mixture of horseradish, spices and food colors: the taste is almost the same as that of the original, but the advantages of false Vasabi are limited to this.
Beverages
In Japan, it is not customary to drink alcohol separately - only with food. If you go to a restaurant and order an alcoholic beverage, you will certainly be brought a portion of food, even if you did not ask for it.
Do you want to join the large army of people who cannot imagine their life without sushi, this popular Japanese delicacy? The main thing to keep in mind is that a good sushi meal does not tolerate fuss! Keeping this in mind and observing special rules, you will get real pleasure from properly prepared sushi!
This is how a sushi ritual should look like in the right sushi bar:
- The first thing the waiter will bring is oshibori, a rolled hot towel. They need to wipe their hands before eating. It can be taken away before serving sashimi (usually the first course), or it can be left for the entire meal. In addition, you will be brought a napkin, which should be placed on your lap.
- Separate the brought sticks. You can rub the sticks together if you feel that they are not well processed and may splinter your hand.
- If you find it uncomfortable to eat with chopsticks, then just grab the sushi with your hands. However, be sure to use chopsticks to take a bite from a shared dish.
- When you take something from the common plate, lift the sticks with the thin ends up. As you bring food to your plate, lift the opposite ends of the chopsticks up. It is allowed to take sushi with your hands from your plate, as well as separate small pieces from them.
- There is a taboo in a sushi meal - passing food to a neighbor using chopsticks. This prohibition is rooted in the history of Japan, where there was a tradition among family members to transfer the cremated bones of deceased relatives to each other. Therefore, if you want to treat someone, pass the plate to him and the person himself will take a piece.
- If you are a fan of spicy and spicy, then add a little wasabi, a spicy green seasoning to the soy sauce where you dip sushi. Soy sauce is usually served in a small gravy boat, where you can stir in the amount of this "Japanese horseradish" that is often called wasabi. The main thing is not to overdo it, because wasabi is very spicy! "Pinch off" a small piece of wasabi with your chopsticks and place it in the gravy boat, then stir. By the way, in Japan sushi is often eaten a little differently: wasabi is put directly on sushi and dipped in soy sauce. If you like it that way, you can eat sushi that way.
- Do not dip your piece of sushi in soy sauce with rice; you need to rotate the sushi so that only fish gets into the sauce.
- Remember how to eat a sandwich according to the version of Matroskin the cat? Likewise, nigiri sushi is best eaten: place it upside down on your tongue to pick out all the flavors.
- At the sushi bar, you will definitely be served pickled ginger - pink “petals”. A ginger leaf is usually used to “seize” the taste of the previous piece of sushi, and the palate is prepared for the taste of the next one.
- Didn't like the ginger? Ask the waiter if they have any other oshinko, or pickled roots.
- The unspoken rule is that if something does not suit you on your plate, then ask it to be removed or replaced before the start of the meal. If you have already started eating, then you need to eat the entire serving.
- Not using sticks? Place them on the table so that they lie parallel to the edge of the sushi bar. If you eat with chopsticks, then place them with their narrow ends on a stand, hashi oke.
- It has already been mentioned that you cannot leave uneaten, especially with regard to rice.
- Finally, sushi bars do not serve knives: the portions are small, so sushi is eaten without this cutlery.
In Russia, the most popular Japanese dish is various types of sushi. In Penza, you can try them in establishments specializing in the preparation of this food. All sushi differ in size, filling, while they always contain rice, fresh or smoked sea fish, seafood, nori algae. You can always clarify information about the types of sushi from the sushi master or read it in the menu. However, it is useful for lovers of this dish to know some of the rules for their use.
How to eat sushi properly
A variety of sushi bars share similarities in serving Japanese etiquette. The first thing guests get when they sit down at the table is a hot towel and a cloth napkin. One is served to cleanse the hands on the eve of the meal, the other is laid on the knees. Chopsticks are the main cutlery. They must be disposable, made of wood or bamboo, and have a smooth surface. Those who have not learned how to use them can eat with their hands, however, sushi can only be taken from a common dish with chopsticks or a fork.
A knife or spoon on a Japanese table is bad form. When ordering a liquid soup, served in the likeness of a bowl, the Japanese drink liquid from it directly from the plate, and eat the remaining pieces of vegetables, seaweed, mushrooms, picking them up with chopsticks. It is strictly forbidden to transfer sushi from your plate to another guest using these wooden tools. In Japan, such a gesture is associated with the transfer of the remains of a deceased person after cremation.
Everyone can make a hot sushi seasoning on their own. To do this, you need to mix a little wasabi, which everyone offers, and soy sauce in a gravy boat to taste. It is customary to dip sushi into the resulting mixture that does not have decorations. Pickled ginger is certainly served on a plate with various rolls. It is recommended to eat a piece of it between different types of the main course - it emphasizes and enhances the taste. When you are full, you can not finish eating pieces of fish, seafood, seaweed, but you can not leave rice - in Japan this is considered an insult to the owners, and in our case - a sushi bar. The smell of tobacco smoke reduces the perception of the taste of sushi, which is why it is not customary to smoke in establishments specializing in Japanese cuisine.
And some tips for those who have learned to handle chopsticks. They cannot be woven into food - such a gesture is only permissible during a funeral. They cannot be gestured during a conversation. Japanese etiquette prohibits licking sticks, knocking them on the table, calling on the waiter, or drawing.
In Japan, eating sushi is a ritual comparable in importance to the tea ceremony. Compliance with the listed rules of etiquette will help demonstrate respect for this country, its traditions, which is very important when visiting establishments where staff trained in Japanese sushi bars work.
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Do you like sushi? This Japanese food is best ordered at a sushi bar, where the preparation and serving of the dish is in keeping with the original tradition. Do not be surprised that in such an institution, even before a meal, you will be served wet towels... We will tell you more about this tradition.
The people of Japan fill their lives with secret rituals that help them cope with the negativity accumulated during the day. For example, they have a special technique for preparing and serving small wet towels before meals. They are used for their intended purpose to wipe your hands.
IMPORTANT! The Japanese also believe that napkins remove accumulated negative energy. Therefore, in addition to hands, sometimes they wipe the face with a textile product.
When and why are wet towels served in a sushi bar
We are all used to textile and paper napkins in restaurants. But the first time they receive oshibori, some visitors to the sushi bar are surprised that they are wet.
Small wipes soaked in moisture are served in restaurants and sushi bars just before eating.
Important! Wet towels are used in any restaurant or cafe in Japan. This is an important tradition that all residents of the country observe.
They are served by waiters just before a meal so that a person can freshen up and hygienically clean their hands before eating.
The Japanese have made serving small wet wipes a real art. Some sushi bars serve animal-rolled towels. Beautiful coasters and decorations are also used.
IMPORTANT! Keep in mind: the presence and correct presentation of the oshibori can be an additional indicator of the establishment for you.
Good to know about towels at a sushi bar
The Japanese tradition of serving wet wipes before meals has been around for a very long time. During this time, the technology of supplying textiles has reached a real ritual. Towels are prepared and served in a special way. They are considered a special accessory that helps fight negative accumulated energy.
What are the correct names for the towels?
In Russian, the name of the Japanese wet wipe sounds like "Osibori" or "mistake"... They are disposable or reusable sanitary napkins that are served in restaurants so that a person can wipe their hands and face before and during a meal.
Towels are served on a special stand.
This tradition is a must for all real sushi bars, no matter what country they are in.
Types of wet towels
You should also be aware that these napkins can be different.
Disposable
Disposable towels are usually a small paper towel that has been impregnated with an antiseptic, usually alcohol-based. They are placed on tables in restaurants in special plastic packaging or sold with chopsticks.
Discard immediately after use.
Reusable
Usually this textile terry or waffle products... Once applied, they are taken to a dry cleaner and washed to be reused for customers.
Keep in mind: You can get different types of towels, cold or hot. This is due to the peculiarities of filing at different times of the year.
- In summer, oshibori is cooled in ice water or a special refrigerator.
- And in winter they are heated with hot water or a steamer.
Important! Many restaurants have additional refrigerators and steamers in their arsenal for cooking oshibori.
How to use oshibori correctly
So, special wet wipes are in front of you. How to use them correctly?
- Start with them! Wipe your hands, you can also rub your face.
- If you were served disposable towels in a plastic wrap, pay attention to the special notch on the package. This is done so that the customer can easily remove the packaging.
- After rubbing your hands, you can safely eat sushi with your hands! This does not contradict etiquette rules.
- Wet towels can be used all the time while you are at the table.
- At the end of the meal, just throw out the disposable napkin. But it is customary to roll up the fabric one as neatly as it was served. All napkins are placed on the rack that was used for the oshibori when serving.