Sushi & Rice

Nigiri, maki & the art of shari

Sushi is not raw fish but vinegared rice — shari — and everything else is a partner to it. From the hand-pressed nigiri of Edo-era Tokyo to home-rolled hosomaki and the celebratory scattered bowl of chirashi, it is a cuisine built on the seasoning of rice and the quiet respect of good ingredients.

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Every recipe

3 recipes in this region.

A wide shallow bowl of scattered chirashi sushi: glossy white seasoned rice topped with fanned slices of ruby tuna and orange salmon, golden threads of shredded egg, bright green snow peas, glistening orange salmon roe, and a scatter of dark nori, arranged like a jewel box.

Japan (nationwide; the vegetable homestyle version is a festival dish, the sashimi-topped bowl is Edo/Tokyo edomae style) · Japanese

Chirashi Sushi (Scattered Sushi Rice Bowl)

The generous, celebratory cousin of the sushi roll: a bed of seasoned shari scattered with glistening sashimi, or with simmered vegetables and shredded egg. No rolling, no mat — just the best bowl of sushi you can build, homestyle or edomae.

IntermediateMainsSushi

A wooden board of neatly sliced hosomaki: a row of tekkamaki showing ruby-red tuna centered in white rice wrapped in dark nori, beside a row of kappamaki with pale green cucumber, arranged cut-side up with a mound of pink pickled ginger and a dab of green wasabi.

Japan (the maki tradition is rooted in Edo/Tokyo-style edomae sushi) · Japanese

Hosomaki (Thin Sushi Rolls: Tekkamaki & Kappamaki)

The elegant thin sushi roll — a single filling of tuna or cucumber wrapped in nori and seasoned rice, sliced into neat rounds. Learn to season shari (sushi rice) and roll cleanly with a makisu, and you hold the key to all of maki-zushi.

IntermediateMainsSushi

A slate platter of nigiri sushi — hand-pressed rice topped with glistening slices of salmon and tuna — alongside maki rolls, wasabi, and pickled ginger.

Japan · Japanese

Nigiri Sushi (Salmon and Tuna)

Hand-pressed Japanese nigiri — seasoned sushi rice topped with glistening slices of fresh salmon and tuna, with a dab of wasabi between. A lesson in sushi rice, the knife, and restraint, plus a simple maki roll to round out the platter.

IntermediateMainsSushi