Glossary · 紫 · murasaki
Murasaki
Murasaki ('purple') is the sushi-bar word for soy sauce — and the golden rule is to dip the fish, never the rice.
Murasaki is counter jargon for shoyu (soy sauce), named for its deep purple-black color. The technique that matters: tilt the piece and touch the neta (fish) to the soy, not the shari (rice) — rice-first soaks up too much salt and can make the piece fall apart.
At a serious edomae counter you often won’t dip at all: the chef has already brushed each piece with nikiri, a seasoned finishing soy, so adding more can throw off the balance.