Sushi Lesson

Hiroshi	Adrienne

Adrienne: So, Hiroshi, I need to take some friends out for sushi and I think they're hoping I can tell them what to order, and I have no idea about sushi. Can you help me?

Hiroshi: OK. Sushi.. well, if you go to sushi restaurant, you notice there is two kind of big categories, that there are the two different kinds of sushi. One is negiri, the fish cut of sashimi on top of vinegared rice and also the seaweed wrap-type, that's also tekamaki, or maki. That's the two big categories I guess as for sushi goes.

And also, not that many people know that but this if you go to sushi restaurant, many real sushi restaurants serve you miso soup. They get soup, have a soup stock that is coming from the fish they use, so sometimes you get to have great miso soup at the sushi restaurant and also some little appetizer type. They might have something that you probably usually don't see in isakaya or any Japanese restaurant, so it's always good to ask the sushi chef what's on the side menu.

Adrienne: OK, so I should ask the sushi chef. And the two types are negiri, which is the kind you usually think of sushi when you see it, right? It's the rice with the fish on top and then the other kind, you said tekamaki? What does that mean?

Hiroshi: Tekamaki or maki, it's basically the seaweed, the black seawead, it's wrapped around the rice. It's one that you may have seen on TV that they like create the bed, the rice bed, and put cucumbers or tuna and also put the seaweed and you roll it up and you have this long stick of sushi and the sushi chef cuts in a bite for edible piece, so yeah, it's different, but yeah, you also dip that into soy sauce, so.

Adrienne: OK, I think I got it. So, you're talking the tekamaki are more like the rolls that you see.

Hiroshi: Or, one that has a cone shape, that they use the entire seaweed. It's like an ice-cream cone, that it goes upward.

Adrienne: You eat the whole thing?

Hiroshi: You actually do eat the whole thing. Yeah.

Adrienne: OK. I think I got it.