Sushi
The essence of sushi is raw (or cooked) fish, shellfish, egg, tofu or vegetables served with vinegared rice. (Raw fish served by itself is sashimi). There are several forms which sushi takes; the two main styles are nigiri-sushi and maki-sushi.
Nigiri-sushi is a finger of rice moulded in the hand with a topping such as a small fillet of fish or tamago-yaki (omelette flavoured with dashi stock). Gunkan-maki is the same finger of moulded rice with a seaweed wrapped around it and a topping such as cod roe.
Maki-sushi is sushi rice and other ingredients rolled up in nori seaweed. A thin roll (hoso-maki) has a single ingredient and is cut into six pieces, a thick roll (futo-maki) has a mixture of ingredients and is cut into four pieces. There is also an inside-out roll where the seaweed being rolled on the inside.
Did you know?
Sushi was one of the first forms of fast food in Japan and was designed to be eaten by hand in one mouthful.
Sushi has evolved from food preservation techniques and many of its ingredients are still used for their presentation properties. For instance, the vinegar in the sushi rice, the soya sauce, the sushi ginger and the wasabi all have bacteria killing properties and were initially used to aid the safe consumption of raw fish. They are still used today due to the taste combination, or, in the case of the sushi ginger, to clean the pallet before moving on to the next piece of sushi.
Tips for Enjoying the Full Flavour of Sushi
- Eat at the Sushi Counter where the sushi is served at the perfect temperature to enjoy the best flavour of the ingredients; the rice should be served at body temperature (around 35ºC) and the fish chilled (between 4 and 7ºC).
- Don't mix the wasabi into the soya sauce as the soya sauce alters the flavour of the wasabi and masks its natural fragrance. The wasabi itself can overpower other seasonings which the Sushi Chef may use. Each piece of sushi is seasoned according to the topping; for instance, horse mackerel (aji) and sardine (iwashi) can be served with ginger and spring onions to bring out a different flavour of the fish than wasabi does. Turbot is often served with ponzu (a soya sauce, vinegar and citrus fruit sauce) or lemon and salt.
- Ideally, each piece of sushi should be eaten in one mouthful to get the full flavour balance. If you find that difficult and choose to sit at the Sushi Counter you can order smaller pieces of sushi or, alternatively, ask the chef to cut the sushi in half for you.
- Depending on the way the fish or shellfish is cut, different flavours are brought out. Ask the chef to score the squid in different ways, or try a gunkan-maki instead of a nigiri-sushi and taste the difference in the tuna and turbot.
- Maki-sushi should be eaten as soon as it is prepared so that the seaweed is still crisp. If left standing the seaweed absorbs the moisture from the rice and becomes damp and chewy. Again, dining at the Sushi Counter gives the diner the perfect opportunity to experience the crispiness of the seaweed.