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FATTY TUNA (TORO)

Toro, the belly of the bluefin tuna, is the most expensive cut of fish. Interestingly, in the days before refrigeration, it would decompose more quickly in the heat. It was thus considered inferior, and the only people who ate it were impoverished manual laborers.

There are two cuts of toro, otoro and chutoro. Otoro is the fattiest part, found near the head, with a high lipid content and a melt-in-your-mouth texture. Chutoro, located further back on the belly, is less fatty than otoro, offering a balanced flavor and texture with a pinkish hue.

Here’s more about toro.

FISH CAKE
Fish cakes are made in different styles, from plain white to white with a pink border to the fancy style in the photo at white: a scalloped white cake with a pink swirl. See kamaboko.

Kamboko/fish cake is a type of surimi, a paste made from fish, and kamaboko is a specific Japanese fish cake made from surimi.

Kamaboko is a traditional form of surimi that is steamed or boiled, often with a pink and white coloring, and has a firm, slightly rubbery texture. Imitation crab, also called crab stick and crab leg, is perhaps the most familiar form of surimi in the U.S.




FORBIDDEN RICE

See black rice.

FUGU

Blowfish or puffer fish. Its innards and blood contain a deadly poison, tetrodotoxin. In Japan, only licensed fugu chefs are allowed to prepare the fish. It is illegal to import fresh fugu into the U.S.; only frozen fugu is allowed, as any toxins would be killed by freezing. The attraction of fugu is not so much an outstanding flavor, but the novelty of the “near-death adventure.”  A master sushi chef will serve every edible part of the fugu—not just the flesh (toro, back, and tail meat) but the liver, intestines, skin, and sperm sac (fugu no shirako). Learn more at JustHungry.com.

FUKUSA-SUSHI

A style of sushi in which the rice is wrapped in a paper-thin egg crepe.

Fukusa means a parcel or a silk square. Silk fabric squares have long been used in Japan to wrap presents or precious articles—elegant parcels, indeed. Also called chakin-sushi.

It is easy to mistake fukusa-sushi for tamagoyaki, stuffed pieces of tamago. The latter is made as an omelet and is much thicker.

FUNAMORI

Funamori is a wooden serving piece in the shape of a boat. It is used for large and elaborate presentations of sushi and sashimi.

An alternative design, also carved from wood, is a traditional Japanese foot bridge. (Both shapes have been created in plastic for lower-end sushi bars.)

There is also a boat sushi, a wrap used to contain more fluid items that won’t stay straight on a pad of rice—ikura, tobiko, and uni, for example. See gunkan-maki.

FUNA-ZUSHI or FUNAZUSHI

Funa-zushi is a type of fermented sushi made using a type of carp (preferably female carp with roe) from Lake Biwa, Japan’s largest lake, which is located in Shiga Prefecture. This regional specialty is characterized by its funky aroma—like ammonia—and flavor like a sharp cheese. Originally made by rice farmers for themselves, it’s the product of fermentation by lactic acid. Written records date to 927 C.E. The dish was also paid as tribute to the Imperial Court.  The fish is salted for 2-3 months, layered with cooked rice, and then pickled for another six months, during which time the flesh and bones inside the skin become soft (i.e., rot). This fermentation method, without the use of vinegar, is called nare zushi, the earliest form of sushi.  To consume, the rice is removed if preferred, and the fish is sliced thinly.

FUTOMAKI

Japanese for “large roll,” these are oversized rolls, three times the diameter of a standard maki. Sushi bars in America traditionally offer a single “futomaki” often consisting of tamago (omelet), kampyo (sweetened gourd), kanikama (crab stick) and spinach, shiitake or cucumber, plus a sprinkling of a sweet, pink fish powder called oboro or denbu. However, any sushi can be made as a “large roll.” A former chain of sushi restaurants in the New York City area, called Monster Sushi, has a menu of jumbo sushi rolls for people who prefer their makis “futo.”

GAI

The word for clam. There are many types of clams served at sushi bars; akagai, aoyagi, bakagai, hokkigai (surf clam), and mirugai (geoduck) are often found in the U.S.

GARI

Pickled ginger, served as a palate cleanser between tastes of different sashimi or sushi fish. The word for the ginger root itself is shoga.

A sushi roll with ari, artistically presented as a rose, with wasabi, artistically presented as a leaf (photo courtesy SXC).

GEODUCK

Pronounced gooey-duck (photo at right). The neck of the clam, which is sliced and served, can be a foot long or longer. Also called mirugai, a giant clam.

GETA

The block of wood that is traditionally used as a plate at a sushi bar. The original “sushi bars” were portable wagon carts in front of movie theatres, requiring serving pieces that were not breakable (however, they do get dented and otherwise banged up). They can still be found today at sushi bars, although the trend is to replace them with more durable and attractive glass or ceramic plates. See the photo at the top of the page.

Geoduck, also called mirugai, is a giant clam—as you can see when comparing it to the knife and habaneros. Photo courtesy Japan Times.

GOBO

Burdock root—a long, slender vegetable that looks like a tiny carrot. Often part of an order of oshinko (pickles), it is also an option for a vegetarian sushi roll.

GOHAN

Plain boiled rice (not sushi rice).

GOMA

Sesame seeds, which are sprinkled on particular rolls at the discretion of the chef, notably kappa maki and uramaki. Shiro-goma are white sesame seeds, and kuro-goma are black sesame seeds.

GOMOKU SUSHI

Another term for chirashi sushi.

Gobo, or burdock root. Photo courtesy Tenzan.


Kuro-goma, black sesame seeds (photo © Marietta Spice Mill).

GUNKAN-MAKI

Literally “battleship roll,” the nori is rolled around the pad of nigiri rice to form an oval-shaped cup (which vaguely resembles a battleship) to contain neta, the “liquid” sushi that can otherwise fall off (for example, ikura, oysters, quail eggs, tobiko and uni). Also known as funamori and kakomi sushi.

Gunkan-maki, or battleship roll, by Jeanette Lambert | IST.

GYU TATAKI
Beef nigiri that is thinly sliced and quickly seared at a high temperature to create a slightly cooked exterior while leaving the interior rare. It is typically served with a citrus-based dipping sauce like ponzu.

High-end establishments create it with Wagyu beef.

Wagyu nigiri can also be served raw, without searing.

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Gyu tataki (photo © O-Ya | Boston).


Uncooked wagyu nigiri (photo © Bamboo Sushi | Portland).