ガリ (Gari) – Sweat ginger pickles

26th May – 皐月

ガリ (Gari) is often seen when you eat Sushi. Ginger pickled by sweet vinegar.

When you go to the sushi shop, you probably see this pink colored ginger there. Have you ever tried them before?

It has sweet but sharp spicy tastes and most likely it is provided free. The pink color is natural and it is the sign of freshly made. In Japan, Gari has the role called ‘箸休め (Hashiyasume)’ meaning as chopstick rest – Eat Gari to have a quick break from eating sushi. Gari was named after the crunchy sound of ginger.

The main purpose of having Gari while eating sushi is to reset the taste and get ready to enjoy the new taste of sushi, but besides that, there are plenty benefit for eating Gari while having sushi, such as:

-sterilization

Sushi is mainly consist of fish and rice, so there are concerns about food poisoning. However, Gari can help reducing the risk as it has sterilization.

-Get rid of fishy smells

Gari has fresh tastes so it can take the fishy smells from your mouth.

-fast metabolism, recovery from fatigue, and better immune systems etc

As Gari is made from ginger, it has various benefit from its components

Gari is also used when you eat 軍艦巻き (Gunkan Maki – wrapped by seaweed), dipping Gari into soy sauce and apply on the top of sushi just like a brush.

Extra info: あがり (agari = Green tea) and ナミダ (Namida = Wasabi) also have sterilization, that is why most sushi shops provide them!