These are the dialogues for podcast #09 ““How to order Sushi at a Japanese Restaurant” In this week’s podcast Yoshiko and Alex discuss useful Japanese vocabulary and cultural points and advice for ordering sushi at a Japanese restaurant like a native. The good news is you don’t have to learn a huge amount of vocabulary to order your your favorite dishes if you learn just a few useful key phrases. Sushi Vocabulary 大将 Taishō – (Sushi) chef サーモン Saamon – Salmon マグロ Maguro – Tuna たまご Tamago – Egg 雲丹 Uni – Sea urchin いくら Ikura – Salmon roe 貫 Kan – Counter for sushi 一貫 Ikkan – 1 piece of sushi 二貫 Nikan – 2 pieces 三貫 Sankan – 3 pieces 一貫ずつ Ikkan zutsu – One piece of each お願いします Onegaishimasu – Please さび抜き Sabinuki – Without wasabi あがり一丁 Agari ichō – Tea できますか Dekimasu ka – Can you make it? お冷や Ohiya – Cold water お椀 Owan – Soup 茶碗蒸し Chawan Mushi – Egg and custard dish えんがわ Engawa – Fin of flounder (flatfish) ごちそうさまでした Gochisōsama deshita – That was delicious 回転寿し Kaitenzushi – Conveyor belt sushi お腹いっぱい Onaka ippai – I’m full 刺身 Sashimi – Slices of fish 寿司 Sushi – Slices of fish on rice つまみ Tsumami – Used when ordering just the meat of the fish rather than sushi ガリ Gari – Slices of ginger in sweet vinegar Main Dialogue A: 大将！サーモン２貫ください Taishō! Saamon Ni Kan Kudasai – Chef, 2 pieces of salmon please. B: はいよ Hai yo – Yes A: 雲丹といくら１貫ずつできますか Uni to ikura Ikkan zutsu dekimasu ka – Can you do 1 sea urchin and 1 salmon roe? B: はいよ Hai yo – Yes A: さび抜きでお願いします Sabi nuki de onegaishimasu – Without wasabi please. B: はいよ Hai yo – Yes A: お腹いっぱい。大将あがり一丁 Onaka ippai. Taishō agari ichō – I’m full. Chef, 1 tea please. B: はいよ Hai yo – Yes 10 Cultural Tips for Ordering Sushi Here are 10 useful cultural points that will really help you when ordering sushi in Japan. 1. Call the Sushi chef “Taishō” When you order from a sushi chef it is custom to refer to them as 大将 – Taishō. This means various things including general, boss, cheif etc. but in this context is used specifically to adress a sushi chef. 2. Use “Kan” counter to order sushi. When counting pieces of Sushi you usually use the counter “kan”. For example: 一貫 – Ikkan – One piece of sushi 二貫 – Nikan – Two pieces of sushi 三貫 – Sankan – Three pieces of sushi 四貫 – Yonkan – Four pieces of sushi Japanese Pronunciation English 大将サーモンを一貫下さい Taishō saamon o ikkan kudasai One piece of salmon please chef  大将マグロを二貫ください  Taishō maguro o nikan kudasai Two pieces of tuna please chef  大将たまごを三貫ください  Taishō tamago o sankan kudasai Three piece of egg please chef  大将雲丹を四貫ください  Taishō uni o yonkan kudasai Four pieces of sea urchin please chef An important thing to remember is it is not so common to order more than 2 or 3 pieces of the same type of sushi at the same time. The most common is ２貫 Nikan – two pieces of sushi. It is possible to say something like this: たまごを二貫、サーモンを二貫、マグロを二貫ください Tamago o nikan, saamon o nikan, maguro o nikan kudasai 2 pieces of egg, 2 salmon and 2 tuna please. 5) Use the word “agari” to order green tea When you want to order tea say あがり一丁 agari ichō. This is a special way to order green tea that is particular to sushi restaurants. When you order, they usually bring it to you in a cup. However, in many conveyor belt sushi restaurants it’s common to make your own tea by putting green ...