Japanese cuisine has long ceased to be the great unknown in Western lands and there are few who crinkle their noses at the thought of raw fish at the mention of sushi. While other Japanese specialties such as ramen, tempura, katsudon or sweets such as dorayaki and mochis are becoming fashionable, sushi is already fully assimilated into our kitchens.
It continues to be the most well-known, popular and iconic dish of Japanese gastronomy, despite the fact that, traditionally, it is an elaboration as simple in its conception as extremely complex at its highest levels, which takes years of work and practice to perfect. However, if it is successful it is also because it has been able to adapt to popular cuisine, to cheaper variants and flavors that adapt to the taste of other palates, gathering influences from other cultures.
Thus, preparing a basic easy sushi is simple if the basic keys are taken into account, on which we can later innovate with many more or less original recipes. But, although it lends itself to fusion cuisine, we must not forget its origin and culture, and that there many varieties and traditional forms that are worth distinguishing.
Know the main types of sushi and learn to differentiate them It will help us to enjoy much more the experience in an authentic Japanese restaurant or sushi bar, or, if we are lucky, when we travel to Japan itself.
what is sushi
Let’s remember, to begin with, that sushi is not synonymous with raw fish, and it is not even a mandatory component in any of its variants. So, the sashimi does not enter in the sushi category, even though it is usually offered in the same places.
As required by the specialist Roger Ortuno in his essential work ‘Oishii. Illustrated Dictionary of Japanese Cuisine‘, the sushi (寿司) is a preparation whose essential ingredient is the sharithe rice for sushi. To the rice add the netthe principal ingredientwhich can include practically any food (cooked or raw fish, meat, seafood, vegetables, fried tofu, tortilla, vegetables…).
In addition, other complements, dressings or secondary ingredients can be included, and according to the shape, size and filling, various variants are distinguished.
Oishii – Illustrated Dictionary of Japanese Cuisine (CUISINE)
Nigiri or nigirizushi
The term nigiri refers to the action of shape by handin this case the rice ball, or rather, croquette, as a nigiri has an elongated oval base. There are several techniques to mold it and it is essential that the rice retains the shape without making a mazacotethe kernels should be able to separate without sticking if the ball is broken with chopsticks or your hand.
On the rice is arranged the neta slice or strip of fish or shellfish, raw or not, or tortilla or other ingredients that should exceed the limits of the rice itself, if the place is generous. Today they can be finished at the table with a blowtorch and sometimes they are topped with a dressing. They do not have algae, except when the ingredient protrudes too much and is held with a thin strip of nori seaweed as a thread.
maki or makizushi
Maki are probably the most popular and widespread sushi variants, also the easiest to prepare both at the amateur level, as well as in the cheapest catering industry or even in the pre-cooked format for supermarkets and convenience stores.
Maki it’s a rollin this case of sushi wrapped with a nori seaweed sheet. The center of the maki contains the net, which can be a single ingredient or multiple. The basic maki recipe is very simple to start practicing, once you have mastered the art of spreading the rice on the seaweed, rolling it up tightly with the help of the bamboo mat, and cutting it into regular pieces.
Hosomaki
They are the thinnest makis, with less filling, usually with a single ingredient. Hōsōi it means narrow or thin and they are also the simplest, so it is worth the filling ingredient to be of quality and generous, or it will only taste like rice. The most popular are tuna (tekkamaki) cucumber (kappamaki) or, more outside of Japan, salmon and avocado.
futomaki
It is just the opposite of the previous one, a maki or much larger sushi roll And thick. Because they contain more filling, they are usually cut thinner, so they have more of a wheel-like appearance than a cylinder. We can therefore deduce that futoi would translate as fat or thick.
They usually have a diameter of 4-5cmwith a finger or a little more thickness, and contain at least three ingredients in the filling, usually some more, up to seven. Handling them requires much more skill, both to prepare and serve them and to eat them.
temaki
Temakis have spread enormously outside of Japan and have given rise to many varieties and international specialties thanks to the game they offer. derive from tea-referring to what are made “by hand”since it is often left to the diner to assemble it at the table to their liking.
They are presented in the form of a larger roll but forming a cone or cornet, thus admitting a less elegant filling than sliced makis. To the rice you can add multitude of ingredients and even sauces of all kinds, as if they were fajitas, a kebab or burritos.
Uramaki
Are the reverse version of the maki, presenting an inverted rice roll, with the nori seaweed inside and the rice on the outside. They have become popular as a result of the opening of sushi to the Western world, because in this way the seaweed is more hidden and disguised, and less perceived in the mouth. The uramaki recipe requires a little more skill, but it is not complex.
To give it more showiness, the rice is usually presented in batter or decorated with Sesame seeds black and white, roe thin or sauces, especially in the case of sushi outside of Japan. The california rolls It is a specific variant widespread in the United States and half the world, which usually has surimi, avocado and mayonnaise.
Gunkan, gunkanmaki or gunkanzushi
Name gunkan it means battleship, and it simulates that very thing, the shape of the deck of a ship type armored ship. He is taller and oval, and he prepares without mat. A small ball of rice is prepared, as in a nigiri, which is wrapped with a very wide strip of seaweed to leave a hole inside.
That space is normally filled using a teaspoon with roe of ikura or tobiko, Shirako fermented soybeans or some minced fish tartare. It is technically closer to nigiri than maki, since the rice is not rolled, it is wrapped.
Chirashi or chirashizushi
Preparing a chirashizushi recipe at home is a lot less intimidating than any piece on this list, since it resembles more of a pokeof which it could be a precursor.
It’s basically a plate of spread sushi, presented in a bowl or plate with a certain depth, on which a bed of ordinary seasoned sushi rice is arranged. Covering that rice, different ingredients are arranged to taste, trying to find a balance of flavors, textures and colors, and with a certain order and elegance.
Inarizushi
Less common in Western restaurants, this type of sushi is named after the goddess Inari, a vixen who is said to love fried tofu. It consists of a kind of small bags of thin fried tofu (aburaage) filled with a long ball of sushi rice with its usual dressing. They almost have the appearance of a dumpling if the filling is not shown, which may include some other ingredient or seasoning.
Oshizushi
The verb oshipress, gives name to this variant of sushi pieces in whose elaboration a specific press is used, does not roll up. These utensils, a kind of mold with a lid, are called oshibako and in them the rice is compacted with the net giving it the shape of rectangular prismwhich once unmolded is cut into block-shaped pieces.
Kazari sushi or kazarizushi
It is a specific type of decorative sushi, very colorful, that uses ingredients full of bright colors to create makis, usually large, that leave different figures visible once the rolls are cut.
They usually present geometric figures playing with the white of the rice as a canvas, but there are also variants with designs of manga characters and other popular ones.
burrito and sushi taco
Increasingly popular, already outside the Japanese tradition, this kind of fusion cuisine use the base of the nori seaweed as if it were a wheat or corn tortilla of Latin American cuisine, clearly emulating Mexican burritos and tacos or Tex-Mex cuisine.
They admit all the variants that one can think of, starting with the most typical fillings of tacos and burritos, of course, with Asian touches, or directly using the ingredients of sushi but in the form of these elaborations. Some good sushi tacos are very easy to prepare.
Modern narezushi or funazushi
The original narezushi has few followers today, but remains a specialty much appreciated that is adapting to modern times and palates.
It basically consists of sushi made with pieces of fish matured in several phases, first cured with salt and then fermented under cooked rice grains, in a process that can take from several weeks to many months.
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Photos | Unsplash – City Foodsters -Kirk K – sermarr
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