From my stay in Japan, I began to fell in love with raw fishes.. Even back in Malaysia, I was one of the more ambitious one to try out the "weird" stuffs... Most of my experiences came from a good Japanese friend of mine..
Sushi Forms:
- Nigiri - a slice of "something" with a hand-form oval rice ball.
- Gunkan - Gunkan means battleship. So, you have seaweed wrapped around some rice and filled with toppings. Usually used for "loose" stuffs like sea urchin
- Maki - rolled into a long "rod" using seaweed and cut into slices
- Otsukuri - the term for sashimi
Serving styles:
- Nama - raw
- Aburi - grilled nigiri sushi
- Yugaki - boiled
There is a long list of ingredients.. If you can speak Japanese comfortably, you can try asking for the day's recommendations.
So, here is a list of what I have eaten:
Fishes:
- Aji
- Unagi
- Anago - similar to unagi. Either one is fine.
- Sake, Salmon, Salmon belly
- O-Toro, Chutoro, Toro, Akami, Maguro
- Ika
- Tako
- Gin-me-dai
- Iwashi * - young sardin..
- Buri / Hamachi
- Hirame, Engawa (Hirame)
- Ikura / Sujiko
- Shirako
- Kazunoko
- Sanma *
- Hamo
- Kanpachi
- Bintoro
- Kue
* Slight "fishy" flavor.. I normally dont order this, unless I forgot what it is..
Shellfishes, crustaceans, etc
- Akagai - red-blood shellfish
- Awabi - A bit too crunchy for me
- Ebi
- Namako
- Hotate
- Kani
- Kanimiso
- Kuruma Ebi
- Tsubugai
- Torigai
- Uni
Classifications
- Hikarimono - shining fishes.. wiki listed it as "blue-backed fishes".
- Shiromi - White fleshed fish like seabreams, etc
Others
- Wasabi - the famous/infamous green stuff
- Gari - Pickled ginger
- Agari - Green tea.. Used to refer to the last tea of the meal but now, it is use loosely for tea.
I noticed that there are more varieties when it is colder i.e. not summer..
Part of the fun in eating sushi is to try new stuffs!!
Bon Appétit!!