What to Order Japanese sushi

Japanese sushi

What to Order Japanese sushi

Nigiri Sushi

Shake (SHA-kay)

Fresh salmon

Some restaurants use smoked salmon; others offer it fresh and smoked. Eat it fresh if they have it.

Toro

Fatty tuna

Delicious but expensive; expect to pay up from $10 per piece

Kampachi

Japanese yellowtail

A bit hard to find; not every restaurant offers it

Waloo

Hawaiian angel fish

Incredible, melt-in-your-mouth texture and complex flavor; an excellent choice to try if you’re new to sushi

Tai

Red snapper

May appear in some menus as pargo or huachinango (Mexican names)

Binjo or Shiromaguro

Fatty albacore

Delicious when eaten with ponzu sauce and some green onion

Iwashi

Sardine

Delicate, melt-in-your-mouth texture and flavor; the itamae will usually deep fry the sardine’s skeleton and serve it alongside the iwaashi

Ebi

Cooked shrimp

Masago Capelin caviar Tiny, tiny fish eggs; do not confuse with tobiko, though the flavour is similar; tobiko eggs are larger

Tobiko

Flying fish caviar

Masago and tobiko are brighg orange and delicious

Mentaiko

Spicy cod caviar

Bright red, spicy with added pepper; originally from Korea, now part of every well-stocked sushiya

Katsuo

Bonito

A special kind of migrating tuna; delicious and a bit expensive, and available only in a few place throughout the summer

Hirame

Halibut

Don’t eat hirame from the San Francisco Bay; rumor has it that you get your yearly dosage of mercury out of a couple of nigiri pieces

Unagi

Fresh water eel

One of the most delicious fish you ever tasted; served grilled, with a bit of teriyaki sauce and sprinkled with sesame seeds

Anago

Sea water eel

Similar to unagi; eat only if unagi isn’t available

Awabi

Abalone

Hard to find and expensive; if possible, eat in sashimi instead of nigiri

Hotate

Scallop

Eat it only if it’s fresh; ask the itamae

Ka-Kani

Hairy crab

Exotic and expensive; hard to find outside of Japan

Tamago

Hen egg omelette

Eat only if made in-premises; you’ll give your itamae a chance to show off; sushi chefs pride themselves on making good tamago, and each has his own “special recipe”

Amaebi no tama

Raw fresh shrimp (fresh = alive just seconds before being served) and its caviar

Seldom found; the roe is raw, unlike ikura or tobiko which always undergo some preparation

Engawa

Halibut fin muscle

Very hard to find. One of the most delicious fish you can order; some people find it a bit on the chewy side, although it’s not as chewy as takko (octopus)

Makisushi

All ingredients are listed from the inside out.

Tekkamaki

Tuna, rice, nori

Originally invented as a snack eaten at gambling parlors (tekka); think of it as a distant Japanese cousin of the sandwich

Kappamaki

Fresh cucumber, rice, nori

Named after Kappa, a water goblin in the Japanese mythology; Kappa is very fond of cucumbers

Umekyu

Cucumber, plum paste, rice, nori

Eat it as the last entree because of the pungent flavour of the plum taste

Walmartdotcomaki

Maguro, shake, suppo, hamachi wrapped in fresh turnip

Simple, delicious roll found in the last place on Earth where you’d expect to find amazing sushi

Special roll

Unagi, mango, avocado, rice, goma (sesame seeds), shake/maguro/hamachi, tobiko, two kinds of chef-made mayonnaise, a few bacon bits on the plate; shoyu and mayonnaise make the splash pattern on the plate
Nobody knows for sure what goes into this one; found at Sushi House in San Bruno, CA; one of the most delicious rolls ever; careful if you find it, though: it’s a meal in itself so don’t plan on eating much else if you order it

California roll

Crab, mayonnaise, avocado (some times), nori, rice, sesame seeds, tobiko

It’s okay if there are no other choices from this list

Rainbow rolls

All kinds of ingredients

Each itamae has his own recipe

Caterpillar or dragon roll

Similar to rainbow roll but the ingredients are on the outside

Both of these rolls usually involve avocado; avocados, not tomatoes, became part of the sushi tradition via its California newfound roots; avocados are now used on both sides of the Pacific Ocean

Spicy spider roll

Soft shell crag, organic multi-grain rice, nori, ink soy paper, and a fried river crab as decoration

Specialty from Juni in San Francisco – not found elsewhere

Tempura roll

Shrimp tempura, rice, nori

The wimpy version of the spider roll; order only if the spider roll isn’t available

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