Want some Wild, Crazy Sushi
What do you need to make your own sushi?
I'm always up for a date to a sushi restaurant, but what if you're trying to eat more meals at home? How hard is it to make sushi? What do you need to get started?
Have you ever come into a Japanese restaurant and found yourself stunt at a numerous options in their long lists of sushi?
Do you want to make sushi at home or at special occasion?
If you answer yes to any of the above questions and possibly any other, then this is the article for you. Beware though, you will be hitting a wall of text (and pictures) on various different types of sushi, but hopefully you will get a clearer pictures on all the sushi variety, their ingredients, terms/names and sidekicks.
Most Sushi beginners tend to confuse between sushi and sashimi. Just remember that while sushi is the piece with seasoned rice and toppings, sashimi is just the “meat” itself, often raw.
Zushi or sushi? You would come across this occasionally. They’re both corrected, and mean the same thing, you just use sushi when the word is standalone, and turns to -zushi whenever there is a name prefix. So without further ado, let’s dive into the details on all the different types of sushi that are popular on the market.
Sometimes, you may find those ingredients primed differently to achieve distinct flavor before bedding the sushi rice. Common priming include sear, smoke, cure and light cook with some sorts of dressing/seasoning. Sear beef -often used Wagyu or Kobe for their special flavor, salted mackerel –shime Saba, smoked salmon, octopus –Tako, boiled sweet shrimps –Ebi… are some examples.
Then there are toppings like broiled fresh water eel –Unagi, surf clam –Hokkigai, sea eel –Anago, imitation crab –Kani, sweet egg –Tamago that are usually bounded by a thin nori strip to the rice. In most restaurant, you will find Nigiri to come in pairs per serving size.
To make Nigiri, form a decent amount of sushi rice in the palm of your hand into an oblong shape, or use a Nigiri mold for easier shaping. Then lay the rice ball onto a plastic wrapper, add topping with a little dab of wasabi underneath, wrap, mound and press to compact. A note on the bedding sushi rice is that to make it stronger than you would regularly season (more salt and less sugar per say) to accompany the sashimi better. That’s why some restaurant would serve these over Himalayan salt slab to enhance the flavor.
The most common toppings for Gunkan maki are sea urchin –Uni, salmon roe –Ikura, capellin eggs –Masago, oyster –Kaki, bay scallops –Kobashira, fermented soybean -natto and quail eggs yolk –Uzura no tamago. Other raw ingredients are also used through dicing, chopping, smashing; then either go alone or combine with spice, sriracha, kewpie mayo, or panko crumb to create a unique mixture (varied by chefs) and place atop the Gunkan.
Gunkan is served and priced by pieces, often at a higher price range compare to other rolls’ pieces, mainly due to its exotic ingredients and longer handling times (detailed presentation).
Filling/topping ingredients for maki can be anything, from cook to raw, whole, slice to chunk, even puree work. They can be fruit, vegetable, pickle, meat, seafood…just anything edible. The best sushi rolls will have all ingredients & toppings hold well together, e.g. not crumble down when eating; everything should be fresh whether cook or not; the flavor should blend well and complementing one another; and the scent should be pleasant too.
Common wrappers for maki is dried seaweed -nori, but sometimes you could find them nicely wrapped in colorful soy wrappers too. Same story goes for ultra thin omelette, perilla leaves –Shiso, thin sliced cucumber, or just about any thing that is flat and pliable potential. I used to roll mine in long smoke salmon strips, and that just come out amazing as well.
To roll a Hosomaki, you will need a half sheet of nori (4×7 inch) so just fold your nori sheet in half and tear. You would then place the half nori sheet on bamboo rolling mat -makisu, smooth side down and spread 1/2 cup of seasoned cook sushi rice evenly atop. Finally, arrange filling ingredient and roll tight.
Some popular Hosomaki you would see are:
Tekkamaki – filled with raw tuna, served as fulfilling snack Negitoromaki – diced fatty tuna belly –toro mixed with chopped scallion –negi, one of the most creamy cheesy favorite in Japan. Kappamaki – named after Japan water imp(greenish color), it actually filled with sliced cucumber to cleanse between meal. Takuan or Oshinko maki – filled with strips of pickled daikon radish –takuan Kanpyo or Kampyomaki – dried grourd strips marinated in sweet sauce Tsunamayomaki – a mixture of smashed canned tuna and kewpi mayo. Hamachi maki – diced young yellow tail. Natto maki – popular in Japan, it’s kind of smelly; made of fermented soybean. Umeboshi maki – extremely sour pickled plum to refresh your taste bud. Chumaki Similar to Hosomaki, Chumaki is just the next step up in size. It’s a bit easier to roll and contains 2-3 ingredients making it about 1.5 inch diameter. To make this roll, you could either use the full 8×7 nori sheet, or just fold and tear off a quarter and saving it for a gunkan. A little close to 1 cup of cooked sushi rice is what you will need. Add the ingredients and just roll like you would on a Hosomaki.
Anakyu – salt water eel and thin slices cucumber. Spicy tuna avocado roll – ground tuna mixed with Sriracha, rolled with slices of avocado. Umekyu maki – pickled plum and cucumber, double the clean. and most of the smaller size Western originated rolls.
Ehomaki – a special Futomaki made of any 7 ingredients, in sync with the seven gods of fortune, hence the name literary ‘fortune roll’. It is consumed as a whole (uncut) in one continuous attempt on the night of Setsubun (February 3rd, the mark of Spring. Originated from Osaka are but spreading enormously around Japan. Some frequently used fillers are: sweet fish powder -sakura denbu, dried gourd -kanpyo, cucumber, sweet omelet -tamagoyaki, eel-unagi, freeze tofu -koyadofu, shiitake mushroom, Japanese pepper -sansho, spiced cod roe, roast beef, etc.
On the other hand, Futomaki is more commonly used in the States. As said before, most Japanese restaurants in the West seemingly to serve their rolls larger with more ingredients to provide special twists and combinations. This is both a good thing and a bad one also. The good: the taste is surely unique and varying from one chef to another due to their add-on ingredients. The bad is large roll means higher in fat and a whole lot more of empty calories. It is also impossible to chow down any Futomaki pieces in one bite though. Roll down to see list of most popular American sushi rolls, which mostly fall under futomaki and/or uramaki categories anyway. In addition to soy sauce and pickle ginger, common sauce for those rolls are unagi sauce and spicy mayo.
Temaki is rolled by using about half of the nori sheet, then adding a small amount of sushi rice, and equal length strips of filling ingredients. You would now start rolling in a triangular motion.
Fillings for temaki can be anything, but usually some sort of fish (tuna, salmon, etc.) and veggies.
Just like nigiri and maki, the number of inari recipes is limitless as any ingredients combination mixed to the rice stuff with tofu would create a fun variation. The taste? Juicy tofu with balanced seasoned rice, one of the nicest finger food there is.
I'm always up for a date to a sushi restaurant, but what if you're trying to eat more meals at home? How hard is it to make sushi? What do you need to get started?
Have you ever come into a Japanese restaurant and found yourself stunt at a numerous options in their long lists of sushi?
Do you want to make sushi at home or at special occasion?
If you answer yes to any of the above questions and possibly any other, then this is the article for you. Beware though, you will be hitting a wall of text (and pictures) on various different types of sushi, but hopefully you will get a clearer pictures on all the sushi variety, their ingredients, terms/names and sidekicks.
Most Sushi beginners tend to confuse between sushi and sashimi. Just remember that while sushi is the piece with seasoned rice and toppings, sashimi is just the “meat” itself, often raw.
Zushi or sushi? You would come across this occasionally. They’re both corrected, and mean the same thing, you just use sushi when the word is standalone, and turns to -zushi whenever there is a name prefix. So without further ado, let’s dive into the details on all the different types of sushi that are popular on the market.
Different Types of Sushi
Nigirizushi
Some common raw toppings include thin or thick slice of sashimi like: salmon –Sake, tuna –Maguro, yellow tail –Hamachi, white tuna –Escolar, squid –Ika, clams –Hamaguri, whelk –Tsubugai, red snapper -Kurodai, butterflied scallop –Hotate, etc. These topping, when used raw usually has an under-coat small amount of wasabi. The best nigiri is the one that has bite size mouthwatering sushi rice and thick enough raw topping to complement the flavor. Sushi chefs had to spend years of practice before mastering cutting technique and variety flavor/texture nature of each species.Sometimes, you may find those ingredients primed differently to achieve distinct flavor before bedding the sushi rice. Common priming include sear, smoke, cure and light cook with some sorts of dressing/seasoning. Sear beef -often used Wagyu or Kobe for their special flavor, salted mackerel –shime Saba, smoked salmon, octopus –Tako, boiled sweet shrimps –Ebi… are some examples.
Then there are toppings like broiled fresh water eel –Unagi, surf clam –Hokkigai, sea eel –Anago, imitation crab –Kani, sweet egg –Tamago that are usually bounded by a thin nori strip to the rice. In most restaurant, you will find Nigiri to come in pairs per serving size.
To make Nigiri, form a decent amount of sushi rice in the palm of your hand into an oblong shape, or use a Nigiri mold for easier shaping. Then lay the rice ball onto a plastic wrapper, add topping with a little dab of wasabi underneath, wrap, mound and press to compact. A note on the bedding sushi rice is that to make it stronger than you would regularly season (more salt and less sugar per say) to accompany the sashimi better. That’s why some restaurant would serve these over Himalayan salt slab to enhance the flavor.
Temarizushi
Temari -sushi is a variant of Nigiri that is in small round ball shaped instead of the usual oblong. These colorful balls of sushi combine vibrant contrasting colors sashimi or cooked vegetable (to soften them) over seasoned sushi rice; that resemble those decorative ornaments(hence temari name). These are usually served during Hinamatsuri(Japan’s girl day) or special occasions in large batch of impressive colorful balls.Gunkan maki
Gunkan maki is also called Japanese warship due to its overall shape look like that of a battle ship. It’s actually a ball of Nigiri that has its perimeter wrapped by a seaweed –nori strip with extra height leaving a bounded empty space atop the rice ball for loose ingredients.The most common toppings for Gunkan maki are sea urchin –Uni, salmon roe –Ikura, capellin eggs –Masago, oyster –Kaki, bay scallops –Kobashira, fermented soybean -natto and quail eggs yolk –Uzura no tamago. Other raw ingredients are also used through dicing, chopping, smashing; then either go alone or combine with spice, sriracha, kewpie mayo, or panko crumb to create a unique mixture (varied by chefs) and place atop the Gunkan.
Gunkan is served and priced by pieces, often at a higher price range compare to other rolls’ pieces, mainly due to its exotic ingredients and longer handling times (detailed presentation).
Makizushi
Makizushi or Maki is of course, a type of sushi that has ingredients wrapped in sushi rice filled seaweed -nori and rolled. You will often see them in a long cylinder (maki means roll per say), with the exception of Temaki. Maki is a very popular sushi type, along with nigiri to the world.Filling/topping ingredients for maki can be anything, from cook to raw, whole, slice to chunk, even puree work. They can be fruit, vegetable, pickle, meat, seafood…just anything edible. The best sushi rolls will have all ingredients & toppings hold well together, e.g. not crumble down when eating; everything should be fresh whether cook or not; the flavor should blend well and complementing one another; and the scent should be pleasant too.
Common wrappers for maki is dried seaweed -nori, but sometimes you could find them nicely wrapped in colorful soy wrappers too. Same story goes for ultra thin omelette, perilla leaves –Shiso, thin sliced cucumber, or just about any thing that is flat and pliable potential. I used to roll mine in long smoke salmon strips, and that just come out amazing as well.
Hosomaki
As maki means roll, so the classification is just on how the roll is made. Hosomaki (thin rolls) is a common type roll, very popular and widely use in Japan for lunch, snack, picnic,etc due to its bite size when cut and flavor concentration. It is a small cylindrical roll (about 1-inch diameter); usually contain only one filling along with the sushi rice inside and nori wrapped around.To roll a Hosomaki, you will need a half sheet of nori (4×7 inch) so just fold your nori sheet in half and tear. You would then place the half nori sheet on bamboo rolling mat -makisu, smooth side down and spread 1/2 cup of seasoned cook sushi rice evenly atop. Finally, arrange filling ingredient and roll tight.
Some popular Hosomaki you would see are:
Tekkamaki – filled with raw tuna, served as fulfilling snack Negitoromaki – diced fatty tuna belly –toro mixed with chopped scallion –negi, one of the most creamy cheesy favorite in Japan. Kappamaki – named after Japan water imp(greenish color), it actually filled with sliced cucumber to cleanse between meal. Takuan or Oshinko maki – filled with strips of pickled daikon radish –takuan Kanpyo or Kampyomaki – dried grourd strips marinated in sweet sauce Tsunamayomaki – a mixture of smashed canned tuna and kewpi mayo. Hamachi maki – diced young yellow tail. Natto maki – popular in Japan, it’s kind of smelly; made of fermented soybean. Umeboshi maki – extremely sour pickled plum to refresh your taste bud. Chumaki Similar to Hosomaki, Chumaki is just the next step up in size. It’s a bit easier to roll and contains 2-3 ingredients making it about 1.5 inch diameter. To make this roll, you could either use the full 8×7 nori sheet, or just fold and tear off a quarter and saving it for a gunkan. A little close to 1 cup of cooked sushi rice is what you will need. Add the ingredients and just roll like you would on a Hosomaki.
Chumakii rolls
Some popular Chumaki include but not limited to:Anakyu – salt water eel and thin slices cucumber. Spicy tuna avocado roll – ground tuna mixed with Sriracha, rolled with slices of avocado. Umekyu maki – pickled plum and cucumber, double the clean. and most of the smaller size Western originated rolls.
Futomaki
Similar to the above two cousin’s rolling method, this one use 1 1/2 cups of sushi rice over a full nori sheet instead. This is the largest of all Maki, typically 2 to 2 1/2 inch in diameter. In Japan, Futomaki usually contains various contrasting color veggies and pickle, sometimes with sakura denbu(fish powder) mainly for decorating purposes when serving at special occasions. An extremely popular Futomaki in Japan is the Ehomaki.Ehomaki – a special Futomaki made of any 7 ingredients, in sync with the seven gods of fortune, hence the name literary ‘fortune roll’. It is consumed as a whole (uncut) in one continuous attempt on the night of Setsubun (February 3rd, the mark of Spring. Originated from Osaka are but spreading enormously around Japan. Some frequently used fillers are: sweet fish powder -sakura denbu, dried gourd -kanpyo, cucumber, sweet omelet -tamagoyaki, eel-unagi, freeze tofu -koyadofu, shiitake mushroom, Japanese pepper -sansho, spiced cod roe, roast beef, etc.
On the other hand, Futomaki is more commonly used in the States. As said before, most Japanese restaurants in the West seemingly to serve their rolls larger with more ingredients to provide special twists and combinations. This is both a good thing and a bad one also. The good: the taste is surely unique and varying from one chef to another due to their add-on ingredients. The bad is large roll means higher in fat and a whole lot more of empty calories. It is also impossible to chow down any Futomaki pieces in one bite though. Roll down to see list of most popular American sushi rolls, which mostly fall under futomaki and/or uramaki categories anyway. In addition to soy sauce and pickle ginger, common sauce for those rolls are unagi sauce and spicy mayo.
Uramaki
Uramaki or inside-out roll, is actually a Western ‘s invention as a result since the creation of the California roll. Basically it is the flipped nori with sushi rice on the outside wrap around certain ingredients, oftenly crab stick -kani, avocado, cream cheese, shrimp tempura, etc. The roll is then cover with roasted sesame (enhance flavor and reduce stickyness) or other toppings. A majority of Western’s sushi rolls are uramaki variants. See list of popular American sushi rolls for description on specialty rolls around the States. Note that each chef might has his/her own creation of the same roll with different technique and fillings/toppings. So keep an open mind and indulge your taste bud.Temaki
Temaki is the cone shape hand roll with nori on the outside. This is the sort of roll-as-you-eat thingy, as most Temaki is served immediately upon rolling to prevent the nori from loosing its crispiness.Temaki is rolled by using about half of the nori sheet, then adding a small amount of sushi rice, and equal length strips of filling ingredients. You would now start rolling in a triangular motion.
Fillings for temaki can be anything, but usually some sort of fish (tuna, salmon, etc.) and veggies.
Chirashizushi
Chirashizushi or Chirashi (e.g. scattered sushi or bowl sushi) is a bowl of sushi rice with various toppings. This can be ranged from the most budget and easiest sushi recipe to the most expensive and exotic; all depend on the number of toppings being served over rice bed. Usually you will find Chirashi with some sort of fish topping over sweet marinated shiitake and scallion. In Japan, the topping mostly salted fish and some pickled veggies. In the US, a typical mixed chirashi bowl will have raw tuna, raw salmon, sweet dream, kani, roasted eel, sweet egg and some salmon roe-ikura. Anyhow, it’s all delicious cause of all the variety in one rice bowl.Inarizushi
The third popular type of sushi in the US is Inarizushi, along with nigiri and makizushi, these three could be found at any sushi deli/restaurant here. Inarizushi is the sushi type where sushi rice and garnishments are mixed and stuff in inari aburaage. What is Inari aburaage you may ask? It’s thinly slice tofu, deep fried, and sweeten by simmering in soy sauce. So in short, it is sushi in a tofu bag.Just like nigiri and maki, the number of inari recipes is limitless as any ingredients combination mixed to the rice stuff with tofu would create a fun variation. The taste? Juicy tofu with balanced seasoned rice, one of the nicest finger food there is.
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