What Sushi Should I Try

A roll, a type of sushi or a topping to order next, with what is in it.

Rainbow rollA California roll with several kinds of fish and avocado wrapped around it.

How it works

What sushi should I try next? One press names one of 91: 27 types of sushi such as nigiri, temaki and chirashizushi, 26 rolls from kappamaki to the dragon roll, and 38 kinds of fish and other toppings.

Read the full guide

If raw fish is not for you

Kappamaki is a cucumber roll, inarizushi is rice in a pouch of fried tofu, and tamago is a sweet omelette. Unagi, freshwater eel, is often broiled with a sweet sauce, and pressed oshizushi uses only cooked or cured ingredients.

Rolls made for Western tables

The California roll put the rice on the outside to hide the nori, and the rainbow, dragon and caterpillar rolls followed it. Inside-out rolls are uncommon in Japan, where sushi is traditionally eaten by hand and the outer rice is hard to hold.

Nigiri is traditionally eaten with the fingers. Turn it over so that only the topping, not the rice, dips into the soy sauce.

Questions and answers

What type of sushi should I try first?

Order one of each shape: a thin roll such as kappamaki or tekkamaki, a California roll, nigiri with salmon or tuna, and a temaki, the cone-shaped hand roll.

What is the difference between nigiri, maki and sashimi?

Nigiri is a hand-pressed mound of rice with a topping draped over it. Maki is rolled sushi, generally wrapped in nori. Sashimi is thinly sliced raw fish served without the vinegared rice that defines sushi.

What is the ginger served with sushi for?

To cleanse the palate. Gari, the sweet pickled ginger, is eaten between sushi courses.

Who invented the California roll?

That is disputed. Several chefs from Los Angeles have been named as its creator, and so has one from Vancouver. The earliest mention of a California roll in print is from November 1979.

All 91 sushi

Types of sushi 27

Aburi nigiri Nigiri whose fish is partly grilled, on the top side, and partly raw.
Aburi oshizushi Pressed sushi seared with a torch, a variety invented in Vancouver in 2008.
Australian hand roll Australia. A thick roll made from half a sheet of nori, often served uncut as a snack.
Battera Pressed mackerel sushi. The name comes from a Portuguese word for a small boat.
Chirashizushi Scattered sushi: a bowl of rice topped with a variety of raw fish and vegetable garnishes.
Chumaki A medium-sized roll that usually holds several ingredients.
Cone sushi Hawaii. Inarizushi in a triangular pouch that may hold green beans, carrots or gobo with the rice.
Edomae chirashizushi Edo style. Scattered sushi with uncooked ingredients in an artful arrangement.
Fukusa-zushi A regional variation of inarizushi with a pouch made from a thin omelette.
Funazushi Shiga Prefecture. The most famous narezushi, made from fish of the crucian carp genus.
Futomaki A thick roll, usually with nori on the outside, with two, three or more fillings.
Gomokuzushi Kansai style. Cooked or uncooked ingredients mixed into the body of the rice.
Gunkanmaki Warship roll: a clump of rice with a strip of nori around it, filled with a soft topping.
Hosomaki A thin roll with nori on the outside and, generally, only one filling.
Inarizushi A pouch of fried tofu, typically filled with sushi rice alone.
Kakinohazushi Nara. Pressed sushi wrapped in persimmon leaves.
Kazari maki A decorative roll, often made with colored rice in simple or complex shapes.
Makizushi Rolled sushi: a cylinder formed with a bamboo mat, generally wrapped in nori and cut into pieces.
Narezushi Matured sushi: a traditional fermented form, made by salting fish in a wooden barrel.
Nigiri Hand-pressed sushi: an oblong mound of rice with a topping draped over it, typically fish.
Oshizushi Osaka. Pressed sushi: toppings and rice pressed in a wooden mold and cut into bite-sized pieces.
Sushi pizza Canada. A deep-fried cake of rice or crab, topped with mayonnaise and sushi ingredients.
Tamago makizushi A roll wrapped in a thin omelet.
Temaki A hand roll: a large cone of nori with the ingredients spilling out of the wide end.
Temari sushi Ball sushi: rice and fish pressed by hand into the shape of a ball.
Tempura makizushi A fried version of the roll, also called agezushi.
Uramaki An inside-out roll: rice on the outside and the nori inside, around two or more fillings.

Rolls 26

Alaskan roll A California roll with smoked salmon inside or layered on the outside.
Boston roll A California roll with poached shrimp in place of the imitation crab.
British Columbia roll Grilled or barbecued salmon skin with cucumber and a sweet sauce. Also called a salmon skin roll.
California roll Avocado, cucumber and imitation crab, often rolled inside-out with the rice outside.
Caterpillar roll An inside-out roll topped with thin slices of avocado.
Dragon roll Shrimp tempura, cucumber and eel inside, wrapped with avocado on the outside.
Dynamite roll Yellowtail or prawn tempura with fillings such as bean sprouts, carrots, avocado and cucumber.
Ehomaki A thick roll of seven lucky ingredients, eaten uncut on the evening of Setsubun.
Hawaiian roll Canned tuna, tamago, kanpyo and kamaboko, with red and green shrimp powder.
Inari maki A roll filled with seasoned fried tofu.
Kappamaki A thin roll filled with cucumber, named after the kappa, a water imp fond of cucumbers.
Mango roll Avocado, crab meat, tempura shrimp and mango slices, topped with a creamy mango paste.
Michigan roll Spicy tuna, smelt roe, spicy sauce and avocado: a variation on the spicy tuna roll.
Natto maki A roll filled with natto, fermented soybeans.
Negitoromaki A thin roll filled with chopped tuna, often fatty tuna, and scallion.
New Mexico roll New Mexico. Green chile, sometimes tempura-fried, with teriyaki sauce and rice.
Norway roll An inside-out roll of omelette, imitation crab and cucumber, topped with slices of salmon.
Rainbow roll A California roll with several kinds of fish and avocado wrapped around it.
Rock and roll An inside-out roll of barbecued freshwater eel and avocado, with toasted sesame seeds outside.
Shinko maki A roll filled with takuan, pickled daikon radish.
Spicy tuna roll Raw tuna mixed with a spicy mayonnaise.
Spider roll Fried soft-shell crab with fillings such as cucumber, avocado and daikon sprouts.
Sushi burrito United States. A large roll with fillings the customer chooses.
Tekkamaki A thin roll filled with raw tuna.
Tempura roll Shrimp tempura inside the roll, or the whole roll battered and fried.
Tsunamayomaki A thin roll filled with canned tuna tossed with mayonnaise.

Fish and toppings 38

Aji Japanese jack mackerel.
Akagai Ark shell, a clam.
Amaebi Pink shrimp served raw.
Anago Saltwater eel, also called conger eel.
Chutoro Medium-fat bluefin tuna belly. The name means middle toro.
Corn and mayonnaise Sweetcorn with mayonnaise, served as gunkanmaki.
Ebi Shrimp, boiled or raw.
Engawa The chewy part of a fluke, often called fluke fin.
Hamachi Young yellowtail, one of the fish commonly used in sushi.
Hirame Fluke, a type of flounder.
Hokkigai Surf clam.
Hotate Scallop.
Ika Squid or cuttlefish, served raw or cooked.
Ikura Salmon roe, a loose topping of the kind served as gunkanmaki.
Iwashi Sardine.
Kani Crab. The word is also used for imitation crab.
Kanpachi Greater amberjack.
Katsuo Skipjack tuna.
Kazunoko Herring roe.
Kohada Japanese gizzard shad.
Madai Red sea bream.
Maguro Tuna. Its fatty cut, toro, is the most valued ingredient in sushi.
Masago Smelt roe.
Mentaiko Pollock roe seasoned to have a spicy flavor.
Negitoro Chopped tuna with scallion.
Otoro The fattiest portion of the bluefin tuna belly.
Quail egg A raw quail egg, a topping for gunkanmaki.
Saba Mackerel, served raw or marinated.
Sake (salmon) Salmon sushi was not widely accepted in Japan until the late 1980s.
Sanma Pacific saury, an autumn fish.
Sawara Spanish mackerel.
Shiro maguro Albacore, also called white tuna.
Suzuki Sea bass.
Tako Octopus, one of the toppings bound to the rice with a thin strip of nori.
Tamago A slightly sweet, layered omelette, bound to the rice with a thin strip of nori.
Tobiko The roe of flying fish.
Unagi Freshwater eel, often broiled with a sweet sauce.
Uni Sea urchin, a soft topping served as gunkanmaki.