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QUAIL EGG or UZURA NO TAMAGO

A raw quail egg yolk is frequently served in a gunkan-maki (boat roll) atop crunchy tobiko, flying fish roe. The creamy egg yolk contrasted with the crunchy fish roe is considered a delicacy. Quail is uzura, egg is tamago.

RAINBOW ROLL

A reverse roll with strips of variously colored fish and often, avocado, placed diagonally across the top of the sushi roll (the Japanese term is tazuna sushi). The inside can be tuna, a California roll, or whatever the chef wishes. See the photo above.

RED CLAM or AKA-GAI or ARK SHELL



or COCKLE

Red clam is imported frozen from Japan. The red color comes from hemoglobin in the flesh. It is a tradition to rinse the clam in rice vinegar prior to serving since some people find the natural scent of the clam to be strong. However, over time, people have become accustomed to it. Ask the sushi chef if it has been rinsed, just so you’ll know if you are tasting vinegar or the natural flavor of the clam.

RENKON

Lotus root (photo at right).

RICE BALL

See onigiri and musubi.

ROE

Fish eggs, or caviar. You can make a “roe tasting” of ikura (salmon roe), kazunoko (herring roe), masago (smelt roe), mentaiko (spicy cod roe), tarako (Alaska pollock roe), tobiko (flying fish roe) and uni (the gonad of the sea urchin). Don’t forget to add uzura no tamago (quail egg), on top of either tobiko or uni—or any of the others.

SABA

Mackerel. Mackerel is not served completely raw but is one of those fish that is cured in rice vinegar with some salt because it spoils quickly. Different types of mackerel can be found at sushi bars, including aji (Spanish mackerel also called horse mackerel), sanma (Japanese mackerel), and sawara (Spanish mackerel). Marinated mackerel is shime-saba. Fresh mackerel, not marinated, is saba-no-tataki.  Also see sawara, below.

SAKE

Salmon, pronounced SAH-keh, has glistening orange flesh, which makes it one of the more colorful pieces on the sushi or sashimi plate. It has a wonderful, unctuous texture like toro and yellowtail, but (along with mackerel) much higher levels of Omega 3 essential fatty acids. In addition to being served plain and in spicy salmon rolls, the skin of the salmon, which tastes very different from the flesh, is often grilled and served in a hand roll (temaki).

Sashimi: salmon wrapped around spicy salmon. Photo courtesy Sushi.org.pt.

SAKÉ

Pronounced sah-KAY. Distilled rice wine, pronounced sah-KEH. It is served hot or cold, depending on the quality. Note that, unlike regular wine, saké is a distilled product and meant to be drunk young, not aged. Read more about saké in our Introduction To Saké article and our Saké Glossary.

SAKURA-MASU

Ocean trout.

SALMON

See sake, above.

Salmon nigiri sushi. Photo courtesy Genji Sushi.

SALMON SKIN ROLL

The skin of smoked salmon is broiled and served, hot and crunchy, generally with cucumber, in a hand roll (temaki). It also can be served in a regular roll (maki); and we have seen grilled salmon skin served sashimi-style, on a plate with no rice. A concept invented in America, salmon skin is considered a delicacy, although prior to its adoption by sushi chefs, the skin was thrown away.

Salmon skin roll. Photo Sushi Haven | U.K.

SANSHO

Called sansho in Japan, this is Sichuan (or Szechuan) pepper. It is not true pepper like black peppercorns. The outer pod of the tiny fruit is harvested from a number of species of evergreen shrubs in the genus Zanthoxylum, known as the prickly ash. Learn more about types of pepper in our Varietal Peppercorn Glossary.

SANMA

Japanese mackerel.

Sansho, or Szechuan pepper. Photo courtesy Sansho Daiko.

SASHIMI

Sliced raw fish, generally served with a bowl of plain, steamed rice (not sushi rice, which is prepared with vinegar and sugar). The word literally means “pierced body.” No one is certain of the origin, but it may have come from the former practice of sticking the tail and fin of the fish on the slices, to let it be known which fish one was eating. Regardless, it must be interesting for a native Japanese speaker to order a “pierced body” platter. While there is no rice implied in the term sashimi, it is generally served with a bowl of plain, boiled white rice.

Sashimi. Photo  © Directphoto |
Dreamstime.
 

SASHIMI-GRADE FISH or SUSHI-GRADE
FISH

See grade of fish.

SAYORI

Springtime halfbeak, a fish not often found in the U.S.

 

SAWARA

Spanish mackerel. See also aji.

SEA BASS

See suzuki.

SEA BREAM

See madai.

Spanish mackerel, sawara in Japanese (photo © Sushi 311).


Sea bass, or suzuki (photo © Kissaki | NYC).

SEA URCHIN

Sea urchins (uni in Japanese) are small, spiny, globular animals related to sand dollars. Because they are a challenge to harvest, they are one of the more expensive items at the sushi bar.

There are different species, with shades from black to blue, brown, green, purple, and red. The name “urchin” is an archaic word for hedgehog, which the spiny sea urchins resemble (photo below). Also, see uni.

Above: uni, sea urchin roe, in gunkan-maki (boat rolls, photo copyright Beryl } Three’s Company | Flickr). At left: the roe seen in a halved sea urchin shell (photo above © Santa Alicia Winery, photo at left © 50 Best Things To Eat & Drink Right Now).

SENBEI

Thin, crisp rice crackers, flavored with soy sauce (or other seasonings). Senbei can be crumbled and added to sushi rolls for crunch, flavor, and decoration, in the manner of panko.

SHAKO

Mantis shrimp are feisty crustaceans that are neither shrimp but get their name from their combined resemblance to shrimp and the praying mantis. About 12 inches in length, they have powerful claws that they use to kill prey, and can snap a finger from a diver. Mantis shrimp have been known to break through aquarium glass with a single strike from a claw.

Rice crackers, or senbei. Photo by Elvira Kalviste | THE NIBBLE.

SHICHIMI TOGARASHI or

NANAMI TOGARASHI



Literally, “seven flavor chili,” the components of this Japanese spice blend, used as a table spice, vary by region. One of the most popular table seasonings in Japan, it is used to add both heat and flavor to everything from beef tataki to rice, soba noodles, and udon.

The seven spices can include black, white, and toasted sesame seeds; cayenne; ginger; nori; shiso seeds and Szechuan pepper. Here’s more about it, plus recipes.

SHIMA-AJI

Striped horse mackerel. This variety of horse mackerel, caught by pole off the Izu Peninsula is possibly the best mackerel in Japan. The generic name for all mackerel is called aji (photo).

Shichimi togarashi, or Japanese seven spice, is available at many supermarkets. McCormick makes a version (photo Yahoo | Colourbox).

SHIME-SABA

Marinated mackerel for raw consumption, as opposed to fresh mackerel for cooking (saba-no-tataki). Raw mackerel is marinated to cure it, both as a spoilage preventative (some fish spoil more quickly) and as an anti-parasitic.

The photo at right shows a beautiful cross-section of mackerel-pressed sushi (oshizushi), with its silvery skin and rosy flesh.

Also see kaninohazushi, where persimmon leaves are additionally used to cure mackerel.

SHIRAKO or MILT

Shirako is the sperm sac of fish, also known as milt. It is a luxury product, seasonal, and very pricey. The sac is typically left intact; the insides have a soft, creamy texture which some find similar to brains or soft cream cheese. The sac is cooked to eliminate the toughness. It can be steamed, tempura-fried, or served raw, out of the sac, like uni. Shirako is also served as a garnish on chawanmushi, an egg custard.

SHIRAUO

Whitebait, served as several tiny whitebait fish in a gunkan-style boat wrap.

Albacore tuna. Photo courtesy SushiConnection.com.

A shirako gunkan-maki. Photo courtesy Sushi Bar Maumi | Vancouver.

SHIRO-GOMA

White sesame seeds (shiro=white, goma=sesame seeds).

SHIRO-MAGURO

Albacore, or white, tuna. Not to be confused with escolar, a problematic fish that is often sold as “white tuna.”

SHIROMI-DANE

Literally, white meat (shiro=white, dane=meat). About a dozen varieties of sashimi and sushi fish fall into this category, including hamachi (yellowtail), hirame (flute/flounder/halibut), kanpachi (older yellowtail), karei (flounder), shiro-maguro, above and tai (snapper).

Albacore tuna. Photo courtesy SushiConnection.com.

SHISO or PERILLA LEAF

Perilla is a genus of herb that is a member of the mint family, Lamiaceae, and is grown primarily in East Asia and India. Its botanical name is Perilla frutescens var. japonica, and it has a fennel-mint-like flavor (in Nepal and parts of India, it is called silam and is also called ohba). In North America, perilla is called by its Japanese name, shiso, since most people have made its acquaintance through sushi bars. There are both green-leafed and purple-leafed varieties. Red shiso is slightly less spicy than green shiso, with an anise flavor. The Japanese use it to color umeboshi (plum paste) and shoga (pickled ginger), as a seasoning with tofu (bean curd) dishes and wrapped around pieces of meat as green shiso is wrapped around raw fish.

Shiso leaf. Photo courtesy AsianHealthSecrets.com.

SHOGA

Ginger root. Many people erroneously learn this as the word for pickled ginger, when they ask for the word for “ginger” at a Japanese restaurant. However, they mean to ask for the word for “pickled ginger,” which is gari.

There is a separate type of shoga, beni-shoga, that is colored red and cut into small, thin strips as a garnish for food other than sushi.

Shoga, ginger root. Photo by Jan Schone | SXC.

SHOYU

Soy sauce is a salty sauce made from fermented soybeans. There are all levels of quality, from “supermarket level” to artisan soy sauces. As with any other product, you can taste the difference. The finest soy sauces aren’t merely salty: You can taste a winey flavor and the beans themselves. Usukuchi shoyu is “light” soy sauce.

SHRIMP

See ebi, ama-ebi and odori-ebi.

SOBA

Buckwheat noodles.

SOBA-ZUSHI

Sushi that’s made with soba instead of rice.


SPAM MUSUBI

These photos may look like SPAM sushi, but sushi requires vinegared rice and this rice has no vinegar. Instead, musubi rice is the same as onigiri, Japanese rice ball (made in different shapes) that’s made with regular steamed rice, no vinegar. Meat, fish, or vegetables are tucked inside the rice. Here’s more about it, plus recipes. August 8th is National SPAM Musubi Day, trailing July 31st, National SPAM Day. The history of SPAM musubi and 25+ SPAM musubi recipes.

Conventional SPAM musubi (photos © SPAM Brand Institute).

SPICY TUNA ROLL

In this American invention, originally developed to hide the discoloration of older tuna, toubanjan (Chinese hot paste) and shichimi (red pepper flakes) are often blended into mayonnaise and mixed with the chopped fish. An American chile pepper sauce like Tabasco, mixed with mayonnaise, or plain hot chile oil, or hot chile oil, can be used instead. The dish became so popular that spicy salmon, spicy scallops, and spicy yellowtail are now commonly found.

A conventional spicy tuna roll blends chopped tuna with hot sauce or spicy mayonnaise (photo © Ten Zan | NYC).
 

A fancier spicy tuna roll, topped with a slice of regular tuna (photo © Sushi Den | Denver).
 

SPIDER ROLL

An American invention, this is a roll, often prepared in the uramkai (inside-out) style, consisting of tempura-fried soft-shell crab and vegetables, The legs of the crab stick out at either end of the cut roll, resembling the legs of a spider (well, a very tasty spider).

Spider roll. Photo courtesy SushiConnection.com.

SQUID

See ika.

SU

Rice vinegar. Part of the derivation of the word, sushi. Rice is shi in Japanese.  (Photo at right.)

SUIMONO

A clear soup that’s based on fish stock. It is generally offered as an alternative to miso soup prior to the sushi or sashimi course.

SUJI

Toro sinew, that’s served grilled.

SUKIMI

These are bits and pieces of fish that are scraped from the bones of salmon, tuna, and yellowtail, to be used in rolls.

Su, rice vinegar (photo © Nakano Flavors).

SUNOMONO

Vinegared foods, as distinguished from aemono (a puréed tofu dressing/sauce) or oshinko (pickled vegetables). A sunomono “salad” of vinegar-marinated bean sprouts can often be found on Japanese restaurant menus.

SURF CLAM

See hokkigai.

Cucumbers marinated in vinegar. Here’s the recipe from Cooking the Globe.

SURIMI

Surimi refers to a paste made from inexpensive fish, flavored, colored and shaped to look like a more desirable ingredient. It’s made in many shapes, forms, and textures. The most commonly found variety in the U.S. is imitation crab meat, also sold as crab stick, mock crab, and sea leg; and in kamaboko, fish sausage.

The earliest surimi was developed in Asia centuries ago (more). There is also meat surimi, made from ground meat and poultry. And artistic surimi: Take a look at these beauties.

Crab leg surimi (photo © Fresh Direct).

SUSHI

A variety of preparations that are made with vinegared rice. Contrary to popular opinion, sushi does not mean “raw fish,” but “vinegar rice”: su = vinegar, shi = rice. See Zushi for issues of correct spelling. There is vegetarian sushi as well as sushi made with cooked fish and with raw and cooked meat. The main types of sushi are maki sushi (rolls, including temaki, and hand rolls), nigiri sushi (slices of fish on pads of rice), and oshi-sushi, (rice with fish and other toppings molded in a wood box and cut into bite-size rectangles or squares). The photo at the left shows, clockwise, salmon and tuna sashimi, cucumber and tuna rolls (maki), and four nigiri: shrimp, yellowtail, salmon and tuna.

A classic presentation of sushi and sashimi (photo © Yummy Mummy Kitchen).

SUSHI BURRITO or SUSHIRRITO

In the mash-up food culture of 2014-2015, the sushi burrito joined the ranks of the Bruffin (brioche and muffin), the Cragel (croissant and bagel), the Creffel (French crepe and Belgian waffle), the Cronut (croissant and donut), the Scuffin (scone and muffin) and the Wookie (waffle and cookie). Two fast-casual concepts—Sushirrito in the San Francisco area and Komotodo Sushi Burrito in Denver—launched overstuffed Mexican tortillas packed with sushi ingredients as well as cooked foods (chicken, fish, steak).

A sushi burrito with grilled sirloin steak. Photo courtesy Komotodo Sushi Burrito.