Quote:
Originally Posted by jbsongaku
I believe Maccha is the real thing. In rotating sushi places you always get it. Along with some picled ginger. I dont know if it is to take the taste of the sushi out (so you can taste a different kind of sushi) or if it is to prevent sickness from eating raw fish (i heard both stories from japanese people so I dont know which to believe)
Anyway, there are many brands of maccha and you might find it online. Its powdered tea, but it is not soluble, so it kinds of rests at the bottom of the cup when you finish drinking it. Its not sweet at all, but is very good when its very hot and outside is freezing.
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Trust me, the stuff in sushi places is NOT matcha.
As for why you drink tea with your sushi... You don`t need to analyze it. Use common sense. People NORMALLY have some sort of beverage with their meals. The most common, boring, every day drink in Japan is tea. It is so boring and normal that it`s free. Water or tea? Most people will choose tea - water alone is also available.
Proof that the hot tea is nothing special to do with sushi - in the summer all the sushi places I go to serve mugicha - the summer counterpart to hot green tea.
Tea will do nothing if the fish is bad. As for removing the taste so you can take another bite... What is the purpose of ANY drink with a meal? There is no weird mystery here.
As for what the tea in sushi places actually is - they sell it in bulk as "録茶粉" at the store. They also sell it in single serving sticks, but I forgot what it was called.