Category: Did You Know?

Who doesn’t love salmon? If you’re a fan of this delicious pink fish, then you’ve got a friend in Wild Wasabi. Not only is salmon a classic sushi topping, but our Lynnwood sushi restaurant enjoys a special sort of relationship with the fish that comes from operating in the Pacific Northwest. It is for this reason that we are happy to offer you salmon and salmon roe in much of our sushi so that we might all enjoy its fine flavor and impressive health benefits.

Salmon is not your average fish. It is one of the healthier substances you can hope to consume. Representing both a fatty fish and a low rung of the food chain, it comes with a high dose of the crucial omega-3 fatty acids without exposing you to a high mercury content. On top of this, salmon is a lean source of protein and a great supply of many nutrients; a single four ounce serving of salmon can provide you with excess of your entire daily value of vitamin D, as well as half of your requirement of vitamins B2 and B12. Make salmon a bigger part of your diet today, with Wild Wasabi!

Tofu has an important presence in our Lynnwood Japanese restaurant. But have you ever stopped to wonder about the origin of tofu, or how it became such a significant part of Asian cuisine?

Unfortunately, it’s impossible to know for sure when or how tofu first came about. It is said that it was the brainchild of a Chinese prince named Liu An around 164 BC. However, it was a common practice at this time to credit the significant inventions of others to important political figures. Whatever its origins, it is clear that the tofu production methods we know today were standardized as early as the second century, BC.

It’s likely that tofu spread from China along with Buddhist philosophy. The vegetarian principles of Buddhism made it necessary to provide followers with a meat-free source of protein. Tofu was therefore able to gain a strong foothold in Japan, Korea, and other Asian countries, where it has been a huge part of their culinary traditions to this day.

Have you ever heard somebody talk about “sushi rice”? Indeed, not just any old rice can go into the sushi here at our Lynnwood Japanese restaurant. Traditional sushi-style rice is a mixture of rice and vinegar, which serves to give sushi its flavor and consistency. Technically, this rice is a more fundamental part of sushi than the fish itself, as the word “sushi” literally translates to “vinegar rice”.

The practice of packing fish in vinegared rice goes back hundreds of years. For a long time, fish was packed with rice in order to preserve it, with vinegar later being added when it was discovered that it could hasten the pickling process. This rice was actually discarded when the fish was eaten, and was only coupled with the fish as a dish during the Edo period when traditional, Edo-style sushi first came about.

Ginger is a big part of the dining experience throughout the Asian continent.  You’ve probably encountered this herb in your tea, next to your sushi, or, indeed, hiding amid many of the dishes here at our Lynnwood Japanese restaurant.  And it’s a good thing that you have, too, as the health benefits of ginger are quite impressive indeed:

• Digestive Health: Ginger stimulates the release of digestive enzymes, easing the process of breaking down fats and proteins while simultaneously neutralizing some of your excess acids.  In this way, ginger can serve as a cure for nausea, morning sickness, motion sickness, gas, heartburn, and diarrhea.

• Circulatory Health:  Ginger is an anti-inflammat, allowing it to open up blood vessels while it stimulates the flow of blood and prevents clotting.  Meanwhile, it also helps to reduce the amount of harmful cholesterol absorbed into the blood.

• Curative Properties: In addition to its anti-inflammatory properties, ginger is a natural decongestant and antihistamine.  It also boasts powerful fever-stopping attributes, and has demonstrated an ability to prevent the replication of certain viruses.  The herb has even been used to inhibit the growth of some cancer cells, or even eliminate them outright.

• Dental Health: Ginger contributes to increased salivation in people suffering from dry mouth, which helps ward off cavities and gum disease.

• Fat Reduction: A diet rich in ginger helps you to burn fat more easily.

• Mental Health: The consumption of ginger has been linked to the prevention of plaque in your brain, which is a symptom of mental conditions like Alzheimer’s disease.

Chopsticks are novel to many of us in the West, so the inclination to use them in a way that the Japanese would see as crass or inappropriate can be rather strong.  In case you’re ever playing host to some friends from overseas at our Lynnwood Japanese restaurant, keep the following rules in mind when you break out your sticks:

• Don’t Play With Your Sticks: Don’t point with them, don’t use them to pass bowls around the table, and make yourself into a chopstick walrus.

• Don’t Wear Chopsticks in Your Hair: It is a common misconception that chopsticks are sometimes used as hairpieces.  In truth, people who appear to be wearing chopsticks are actually wearing an accessory called the kanzashi, which only resembles chopsticks.  The two are not interchangeable.

• Do Not Rub Your Sticks Together: Rubbing your sticks together can be seen as an insult to your host.  This is something you do with a shoddy pair of sticks when you need to rub the splinters away after you break them, so you could be sending the message to your host that they’re cheap.

• Always Use the Sticks in Pairs: Your sticks should always act as a pair.  Don’t ever use one independently of the other.  In particular, never use a stick to skewer a piece of food.