Sushi Confidential: Common terms

Sushi Confidential

Just some terms so you can sound proper.

Nigiri: Nee-gee-ree. NOT neh-gear-ree.

The little one piece sushi with the ingredient on top of a bed of rice. That little bed of rice is called a sharidama. The one thing about nigiri in America, it’s bigger. Probably because they want a bang for their buck but reality is that nigiri is supposed to be bite sized. You see them decorated with garlic, yuzukosho (like a Japanese citrus pepper relish sent down from God), mustard, tiny flower…it gets cute.

Uramaki: Oo-rah-mah-kee

Rolls. Maki just means “wrap” if you will. When they say “inside out” it just means that the rice is on the outside. We associate uramaki with the americanized stuff, topped with all kinds of nonsense, but the funny thing is that uramaki is harder than nigiri. More steps, more ways to fuck it up. Don’t damage the rice as you smear it across the nori (seaweed). Roll it tight while not smooshing the roll itself. Then you do have to cut it.

Temaki: Teh-mah-kee

Hand rolls. You know karate? Kara-te, translated to “empty hand.” Te is the part that means hand. Thus, temaki…hand rolls. Sushi ice cream cones. Great for dates. Order two and it’s cute.

Chirashi: Chee-rah-shee

For lack of better words, sushi cereal. Bed of sushi rice with an assortment of fish and usually some tamago (egg) and usually some veggies, some ikura (salmon fish eggs).

Sashimi: Sah-shee-mee

Translated to, “sliced flesh.” This is ironically not sushi. The definition of sushi is ingredient in combination of sushi rice in the forms of nigiri, uramaki, temaki, or chirashi (yes it still counts because it’s about the rice. Famously musubi from Hawaii is not sushi. Looks like sushi, isn’t sushi, but if you put pepperoni on top of sharidama, that’s pepperoni sushi.)

So sashimi is not sushi, but why wouldn’t the chef just sell it as is? If the customer just wants the fish.

Irasshaimase - Ee-rah-shah’ee-mah-say

Welcome! Or, Come in! Walk in and you’ll hear 42 people say this to you, some more enthusiastically than others.

And tip well.

E

#ARTiculate