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In March, in response to some sushi-related posts, I posted the following:

"I question the warnings about rice vinegar and rice wine as well as pickled
ginger and, for that matter, wasabi.

"Can anyone identify one or more non-GF brands of any of these products?
Okay, maybe some wasabi has gluten...but still, specific examples (with
contact information) would be helpful."

I received a number of responses but received practically no information
about any specific non-GF products. Before proceeding with details, I'd like
to offer a brief description of what goes into sushi.

Sushi describes a Japanese food in which fish, eggs, and/or vegetables are
combined with cooked rice flavored with sweetened vinegar. The fish, eggs,
and vegetables are often (but not always) uncooked. According to tradition,
the sushi should probably be seasoned with rice vinegar, but please note
that I can attest from my own inquiries that white vinegar may be used. (As
has been made abundantly clear by Ann Whelan and others, white vinegar is
gluten-free.)

Sushi is usually served in one of two basic ways:  With the rice as a
platform upon which the rest of the food lies, or rolled with seaweed. It is
often prepared at a sushi bar, where a diner can actually observe the food
preparation. This provides a rare opportunity for celiacs, who typically are
not able to see restaurant orders being prepared.

In many instances, the fish and vegetables served in sushi are served plain
and raw. Such is the case with cucumber, avocado, and salmon, to cite three
examples. Much sushi is, in fact, very simple--a slice of salmon resting on
a bed of rice or thin cucumber sticks encircled by rice and seaweed--though
many menus offer elaborate rolls involving several ingredients (such as
tuna, avocado, and salmon).

Among possible sushi ingredients, at least three are clearly worrisome to
celiacs: artificial crab leg (literally made with gluten and very common in
the popular sushi dish known as a California roll), eel (cooked and coated
with a sauce that seems likely to include soy sauce), and anything with
tobiko, or flying fish roe (tiny caviar in which soy sauce is an
ingredient).

However, the issues I raised regarding wasabi, rice wine, rice vinegar, and
pickled ginger were largely about ingredients that are easily avoided in an
order of sushi. In fact, I am sure I could go out today to a sushi
restaurant and enjoy a meal without any of those four items.

Typically, sushi is served with about a tablespoon each of two optional
condiments: pickled ginger (often considered a palate cleanser) and wasabi
(a fiery paste known as Japanese horseradish). Diners often dissolve some
wasabi in soy sauce and use the mixture as a dipping sauce for the sushi,
but sometimes a sushi chef might tuck a dollop of wasabi under a piece of
sushi (shrimp, in my experience) as a kind of "surprise" for the taste buds.
Besides eating their sushi meals with wasabi and pickled ginger, some diners
might enjoy drinking rice wine.

END OF PART 1 OF 3

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