Sushi Ingredients
Sushi rice
Made using white, short grained rice, Japanese sushi rice can be dressed with salt, sugar, rice vinegar and sometimes kombu (edible kelp) and sake. The sushi rice is generally cooled to room temperature before used for a filling.
The most important factor in making good sushi rice is to ensure the correct stickiness. If it’s too sticky it will appear mushy and if it’s not sticky enough it will appear dry. It’s very important to ensure the rice is optimally cooked for the best taste.
Nori
Nori is the seaweed used to wrap around the sushi rice and filling. It’s a form of algae that was initially cultivated in many of Japan’s harbours. It was originally scraped from dock pilings then rolled out into thin sheets and naturally sun dried.
In Japan nori isn’t usually toasted, but in the west, toasted nori is something we’ve become accustomed to.
In 21st century sushi making, nori is produced commercially in specialist farms, which is then toasted and cut to a standard size sheets before packaging. Quality nori is thick and can be recognized by its shiny, smooth green surface that has no holes.
Nori can also be crumbled on salad and is common to be flavoured with salt and teriyaki sauce, although this form of flavoured nori is unsuitable as a wrap for sushi as it tends to be poorer quality.
Fish
Fish that’s eaten raw must be higher in quality than cooked fish for sanitary, aesthetic and culinary reasons.
Among the most popular fish to be used in sushi are tuna, snapper, salmon, yellowtail, Japanese amberjack and mackerel. Sushi chefs look for colour, smell and firmness when selecting raw fish and they especially value the toro, which is the fatty cut of tuna.
Sometimes the fish will be grilled slightly on top and left raw underneath. This is called aburi style and is used occasionally when making nigirizushi.
Seafood
It’s common to use other types of seafood when making sushi, not just raw fish. Shrimp, conger, eel, squid, clam, octopus, crab, fish roe, sea urchin and shellfish are all popular choices.
Real crab is regularly exchanged for imitation crab sticks, particularly in California rolls and oysters are very rarely used, not because of their expense, but because it’s thought not to mix well with rice.
Vegetables
Pickled daikon radish (takuan) in shinko maki, pickled vegetables (tsukemono), fermented soybeans (nattō) in nattō maki, avocado, cucumber in kappa maki, asparagus, yam, pickled ume (umeboshi), gourd (kanpyō), burdock (gobo), and sweet corn may be mixed with mayonnaise.
Other fillings
Vegetables are commonly used either in the place of, or as well as, seafood. Fermented soybeans in nattō maki, pickled daikon radish in shinko maki, cucumber in kappa maki, yam, asparagus, avocado, gourd, pickled ume and burdock are all commonly used in sushi.
Other than vegetables, you may also find tofu, thin sweet omelette style eggs (tamagoyaki) or raw quail eggs in the middle of your sushi.
Condiments
Wasabi is normally created in paste form and is made from the grated root of the wasabi japonica plant. It is traditionally grated using sharkskin (samegawa oroshi) and it can help reduce the risk of food poisoning due to its anti-bacterial qualities.
In lesser established kaiten zushi restaurants and in some shops, imitation wasabi is prevalent. This is made from mustard powder and horseradish and is dyed green so as to look like genuine wasabi. This type of wasabi is often labeled ‘Japanese horseradish’, if manufactured in Japan.
Another popular condiment is gari, which is sweet pickled ginger and is eaten to both aid digestion and cleanse the palate. And of course, green tea (ocha) is an age old companion to sushi for Japanese diners