asian fusion, food review, good food, healthy diet, healthy food, healthy living, Japanese food, sashimi, sushi

My Sushi Dictionary


Actually few years ago I learnt Japanese, it’s just for my own good. I love Japanese foods and i love Japanese culture, everything about Japanese..
Huh?! Been so long never talk in Japanese, forgot lots of Japanese words..
This post is just to remind me about food, LOL!!! Especially sushi and sashimi.. droollll*  🙂


  • Sake : Salmon (Salmon, Smoke Salmon, Seared Salmon)
  • Maguro: Tuna (Blue Fin, Yellow Fin)
  • Ebi : Shrimp (Cooked Shrimp, Sweet Shrimp)
  • Tai: Red Snapper
  • Tako: Octopus
  • Tobiko: Smelt Roe
  • Hokkigai: Surf Clam
  • Unagi: Eel
  • Saba: Mackerel
  • Tamago: Egg
  • Inari: Bean Curd
  • Hotate: Scallop
  • Toro: Fatty Tuna (Oh-Toro, Chu-Toro)
  • Uni: Sea Urchin
  • Ikura: Salmon Roe
  • Kani: Crab Meat
  • Kappa Ma: Cucumber
  • Hamachi: Yellow Tail

While there are many different styles of sushi that can be broken down into sub categories, nuances, etc, there are really only a few basic categories that a diner really needs to know. There are really five basic categories of sushi and they are:

Nigiri sushi – translated as “finger sushi” this is the standard type of sushi you will see, a piece of seafood on top of a little bed of rice. it is usually served in units of 2 pieces at a time, traditionally.
Maki sushi – “Maki” means roll, so this is the sushi rolls that are cut up into pieces, usually 6 pieces per roll however some thinner rolls may be cut into 8 pieces, and the thick rolls may be cut into 4 or 5 pieces, depending on how well it holds together. Maki sushi is further broken down into types depending on the thickness of the roll or the presentation. They are:
Futomaki – Thick rolls
Hosomaki – Thin rolls
Uramaki – inside out rolls, where the rice is on the outside instead of the nori (seaweed)
Sashimi – Sashimi is just thinly slices pieces of raw fish without the rice. This is a low carb dieter’s dream as you get all the yum and none of the carbs!
Chirashi sushi – This is a bowl of sashimi (slices of raw fish) over a pile of rice. It translates as “scattered sushi” and is really just that, though it is usually artfully presented. Ordering this way allows you to choose how much rice you want to eat with your fish, and allows for a large variety of different fish, which can make for an interesting meal for those of us who like to order the same thing over and over again.
Temaki Sushi – When sushi is wrapped up in a cone shape, with all the food items inside it is called temaki sushi, which means “hand roll” basically. This is a very convenient way to eat your sushi in fact, and, while not as popular in Western countries, it is beginning to catch on and can be quite visually appealing.
One More Type of Sushi
While there is some discussion about if this is really a “type” that fits in with the others, there is a style of serving the same items in a pouch of tofu, so that the product is almost like an egg roll that has not been deep fried, but if sometimes soaked in mirin, a sweet sake. This pouch style of sushi is called Inari Sushi and can be quite good when the ingredients compliment each other well.

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