Sushi: A Brief Guide

A definition from Dictionary.com:

sushi
pronounced {soo-shee} noun, Japanese cookery
Cold boiled rice moistened with rice vinegar, usually shaped into bite-size pieces and topped with raw seafood (nigiri-zushi) or formed into a long seaweed-wrapped roll, often around strips of vegetable or raw fish, and sliced into bite-size pieces (maki-zushi).

In other words, sushi proper refers to vinegared rice accompanied by just about anything. (Yes, this means you can make a peanut-butter and jelly sushi roll!) Typically, though, it is prepared with seafood and vegetables.

First, let's talk about the different kinds of sushi dishes available, in no particular order...

Nigiri-zushi - this describes the handmolded pieces of rice with its other ingredients on top, sometimes secured with a small strip of nori paper before serving.

Maki-zushi - this describes the typical rolled-up sushi. The ingredients are wrapped up in rice, then in nori paper (or sometimes inside out). The sushi can then be served as-is, or it can be cooked further, such as with flash-frying.

Chirashi-zushi - this refers to a bed of rice, with the ingredients artfully scattered on top. Nori may or may not be an accompaniment.

Inari-zushi - the sushi rice and ingredients are stuffed into a fried tofu pocket.

Temaki-zushi - this describes a conical roll of nori paper, which encases the fillings of rice and its other ingredients.



Next, we'll discuss typical accompaniments, again in no particular order and using their Japanese sushi bar names...

Gari - a pickled ginger used as a palate cleanser between bites of sushi. It can range in color from a pale yellow to a candy pink. When you bite into it, it's very hot, but if you gently suck on it, it's very sweet with no heat at all.

Sabi - Wasabi, or Japanese horseradish, grated into a green paste. Extremely spicy - use at your own risk.

Murasaki - soy sauce. Rather salty stuff.



And finally, some notes on etiquette and tradition....

*Sushi is eaten with the fingers - no need to struggle with chopsticks!
*Traditional sushi has a little bit of wasabi placed according to the knowledge of the chef. Nowadays, it's common for wasabi to come as a condiment, regardless of whether the chef has already placed some on the sushi.
*A delicious Japanese move: mix a little wasabi into a dish of soy sauce. The salty and spicy make a great combination - mix as little or as much as you like!
*The soy sauce is meant to flavor the ingredients, never the rice! Sushi enthusiasts insist it is insulting; more practically, using soy sauce on the rice will cause it to fall apart, resulting in messy scattered sushi! Either turn your sushi upside down, or baste it lightly by using a slice of gari as a brush.