Eat Sushi With Your Hands and More Sushi Facts on National Sushi Day

— -- For a meal that seems so simple, sushi seems to intimidate even its most loyal fans. And while American sushi has morphed from something much different than what sushi looks like in Japan (you'd be hard-pressed to find a crunchy spicy anything roll in Tokyo), sushi everywhere has one thing in common.

"Sushi just means fish over rice" said Kwang Kim, head sushi chef at New York's Zuma restaurant. So whether you're eating a maki roll or nigiri, it's all sushi.

Here are more sushi facts from Chef Kim.

1. Sushi should be eaten with your hands. Not great with chopsticks? Not a problem. Kim said sushi should be eaten in the "neatest way possible," which means, he said, with clean hands.

2. Think of ginger and wasabi the same way you think of salt and pepper. In other words, Kim said, they are meant to enhance the sushi, not overpower it. Use sparingly.

3. Not all sushi is raw. Because sushi, broken down into its simplest terms, means fish over rice, that includes cooked fish. So if the idea of raw fish is unsettling to your stomach, don't be shamed into ordering it by your sushi snob companions.

4. It's easy to make at home and everything you need is readily available. Nori, short-grain rice and sushi-grade fish are easy to find. Kim suggested your local Whole Foods, but any store selling Asian products should have everything you need. Just be clear to the fish monger when ordering the "sushi-grade" tuna, salmon, or whatever else you want and you'll be in the clear.