For some people, heaven is a Kobe steak; for others, it’s exquisite sushi like this tuna tataki (the equivalent of tartare) with ikura (salmon roe), wasabi-flavored tobiko (capelin roe) and nori flakes (seaweed). Photo by Kelly Cline | IST.

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July 2007
Updated August 2008

Product Reviews / Main Nibbles / Fish, Seafood & Caviar

Types Of Sushi

And A Glossary Of Sushi & Sashimi Terms

Page 7: R, S

If you enjoy this Sushi Glossary, we have a food glossary for almost every category of food. Check out the Seafood Glossary, too.

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Rainbow Roll: A reverse roll with strips of variously colored fish and possibly avocado placed diagonally across the top (the Japanese term is tazuna sushi). The inside can be tuna or whatever the chef wishes.

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.
Photo courtesy of MorgueFile.

Renkon: Lotus root.

Roe: Fish eggs. 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 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.
Photo of mackerel courtesy of MorgueFile.

Sabinuki: This term means “without wasabi” (if you’d like to request your sushi with no wasabi).

Photo of salmon nigiri sushi by Andrey
Rogozin | IST

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).

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 our Introduction To Saké article and our Saké Glossary.

Sakura-masu: Ocean trout.

Salmon: See sake, above.

Salmon Skin Roll: The skin of a smoked salmon is broiled and served, hot and crunchy, generally with cucumber, in a handroll. Invented in America, salmon skin is considered a delicacy, although prior to its adoption by sushi chefs, the skin was thrown away.

Sansho: Called sansho in Japan, this is Sichuan (or Szechuan) pepper. It is not true pepper, but the outer pod of the tiny fruit harvested from of 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.

Sansho

Photo of sansho (a.k.a. Szechuan pepper)
courtesy of Wikipedia.org.

Sanma: Japanese mackerel.

Photo of sashimi by Directphoto | Dreamstime.

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 as 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-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.

Sea Urchin: See uni.

Seigo: Young sea bass.

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, 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.

Shamoji: A plastic or wooden flat spoon used to scoop and serve rice.

Senbei - Rice Crackers

Rice crackers, or senbei, are available at Amazon.

Shari: A sushi bar term for sushi rice.

Shichimi Togarashi: Hot red pepper flakes, used as a table spice.

Shima-aji: Striped jack.

Shime-saba: Marinated mackerel, as opposed to fresh mackerel (saba-no-tataki). Mackerel is marinated to cure it as a spoilage preventative.

Shirauo: Whitebait, served as severa tiny white bait fish in a gunkan-style boat wrap.

Shiro-goma: White sesame seeds (shiro=white, goma=sesame seeds).

Shiro-maguro: Albacore, or white, tuna.

Shiromi: “White meat” sushi and sashimi, such as karei (flounder) hirame (fluke) and tai (snapper).

Shiso: The shiso leaf may be viewed by some as decorative garnish, but it is a delicious and costly addition to a sashimi plate (or to a sushi roll: negi-hamachi-shiso, yellowtail with scallions and shiso leaf, is an exquisite combination). It is also widely known as the beefsteak plant; from its botanical name, Perilla frutescens var. japonica, the leaf is also called perilla; in Nepal and parts of India, it is called silam. It is a member of the mint family, Lamiaceae. There are both green-leafed and purple-leafed varieties. The flavor is a cross between mint and fennel. The plant is also called ohba. Photo of shiso leaf courtesy of Wikipedia.

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.

Shoyu: Soy sauce, a salty sauce made from fermented soybeans. There are all levels of quality, from “supermarket level” to artisan soy sauces. As with any other products, 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 made with soba instead of rice.

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 salmon and spicy yellowtail are now commonly found.

Spider Roll: An American invention, this is an inside-out roll of tempura-fried soft shell crab. 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).

Squid: See ika.

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

Suimono: Clear soup, based on a fish stock. It is generally offered as an alternative to miso soup prior to the sushi or sashimi.

Suji: Toro sinew, served grilled.

Sukimi: Bits and pieces of fish scraped from the bones of salmon, tuna and yellowtail, to be used in rolls.

Rice Vinegar

Photo of su, rice vinegar, by Melody Lan | THE NIBBLE.

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.

Sushi: A variety of preparations 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, 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 left shows, clockwise, salmon and tuna sashimi, cucumber and tuna rolls (maki), and four nigiri: shrimp, yellowtail, salmon and tuna.

Sushi Bar: In Japan the sushi bar plays a role similar to the pub in England: a relaxed and informal atmosphere. True aficionados sit at the actual sushi bar on a stool, watching the itamae (sushi chef) prepare the selections.

Suzuki: Sea bass. Also called black sea bass, the fish has a delicate white color with red stripes on the skin. The flavor is delicate as well.

Continue To Page 8: Definitions T - Z

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