Saturday, October 31, 2009

Sushi Fish Rolls - A Connoisseur's Delight

By Kimikoshi Sumo

Sushi rolls are the most popular form of sushi. Japanese and American restaurants serve two types of sushi to their patrons.

Sushi rolls served with seaweed or nori outside are one variant. The second type is the one which has nori inside the sushi roll.

Presence of nori be it inside or outside changes dramatically the flavor and texture of sushi rolls.

Those who enjoy nori often prefer the style of sushi roll where the nori is on the outside of the roll. This style of sushi roll is called futomaki.

A sushi roll with the nori on the inside is called uramaki.

Futomaki rolls are often served by Japanese restaurants or sushi bars. Even grocery stores keep futomaki sushi rolls.

A typical futomaki sushi is vegetarian but has fish eggs as toppings. Generally futomaki is cut into pieces and then served. However, on certain Japanese festivals it is offered as a roll.

Since Japanese prefer to eat with their fingers, uramaki is not a preferred choice. Uramaki is sticky and difficult to eat with fingers or chopsticks. On top of that it falls apart under pressure. Moreover, a uramaki sushi roll is essentially non-vegetarian with fish eggs or sesame toppings.

Since most Americans do not fancy futomaki with its black coating, uramaki is the preferred form of sushi rolls.

Hosomaki stands out in the entire sushi rolls family. As with futomaki, hosomaki is served with seaweed on the outside of sushi rolls.

Hosomaki has four variants known as Kappamaki, Tekkamaki, Negitoromaki and Tsunamayomaki.

Kappamaki contains cucumber, as well as some other ingredients, and is used to cleanse the palate between raw fish dishes and other parts of the meal.

Tekkamaki is the tuna sushi roll, named after the red color of the fish meat.

Negitoromaki variety of sushi rolls has scallions and tuna in them.

The fourth variety of hosomaki, that is Tsunamayomaki, has canned tuna and mayonnaise in it. Such sushi rolls are easy to prepare at home and can be tried by any sushi enthusiast.

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