Sushi is increasingly popular as it is on the culinary map, if you are one of those who love the culinary world, it is not complete if you haven’t tried sushi or don’t know about sushi. Have you ever wondered about what does sushi taste like?
Sushi is a Japanese dish that offers many flavors, with the development of information via the internet, now this Japanese food is increasingly popular and worldwide, but there are still people who don’t know about sushi, especially about sushi taste.
If you’re looking to find out more about sushi, then this article will represent you. Please read it to the end!
What Is Sushi?
Table of Contents
Before we look at what sushi tastes like, let’s first look at an explanation of what sushi looks like.
Sushi is a Japanese dish and now you can easily find it in various restaurants around the world, especially restaurants with Japanese themes. One thing that is a requirement of sushi, it is sushi rice. If there is no rice, then this is not considered sushi. So, without rice, it’s not sushi.
Rice is the only ingredient that causes the dish to be called “Sushi”, while the other ingredients are only complementary and can vary from one to another.
Apart from sushi, you can also find other Japanese food such as Nigiri and Maki. Nigiri is a dish similar to sushi where the main dish is rice shaped like lumps and meat that has been carefully decorated and placed, this is the beauty of form and taste and Japanese food.
This can also be said to be like a rice topping that is eaten in one bite. While Maki is a type of sushi as well, it involves the process of rolling it in its manufacture. Without the scrolling, this wouldn’t be Maki.
This type of sushi is made by placing a sufficient portion of sushi rice on top of the roll material that has been made. Then on top of the sushi rice, put the special filling ingredients.
There are many ingredients used in making this type of sushi (Maki), so this type is sometimes more enjoyable for some people. There are many possible ingredients on offer for this sushi and they can be limitless.
Chefs from all over the world are constantly developing ways to produce other types of delicious and beautiful sushi.
But some Japanese restaurants keep sushi traditional, so they don’t change it at all. This authentic value sometimes makes sushi valuable and unique.
So, in its development, some sushi still maintain its traditional values without changing or innovating about sushi, and some others continue to look for ways to present the best sushi with various innovations.
Various Flavors in Sushi
Sushi is not just one taste, there are many elements and ingredients that are formed in sushi so the taste will also vary depending on the ingredients used.
Sushi is a dish with a mild taste because no one taste dominates. It’s a relaxed dish and fairly neutral in flavour, the ingredients aren’t overwhelming in terms of flavour, everything is light and relaxing.
1. Rice in Sushi
Rice is a very dominant character of the ingredients of sushi, even a sushi cannot be said as sushi if there is no rice in the list of ingredients. Every chef around the world has their own way of presenting rice in sushi.
The rice involved in sushi is not cooked rice, but rather a type of rice that has been fermented or has been enriched with vinegar, salt, and sugar. Usually, the rice used in making sushi is of the Kushihikari cultivar.
This rice has the right level of thickness, has the right softness and all of its characteristics are considered suitable for serving sushi.
2. Fish in Sushi
Sushi is very diverse and some of them use seafood as an ingredient, and some are vegan.
Usually sushi uses seafood meat, and of course this includes various types of fish meat. Below are various fish and seafood ingredients that are present in sushi and here also will mentioned about what does sushi taste like as out topic to day.
– Tuna: Tuna has meat like chicken and tastes salty and is one of the things that contributes to the savory taste of sushi.
– Salmon: Salmon doesn’t have a very salty taste, but tastes like butter. Salmon is like butter and once in your mouth it melts with tenderness.
– Mackerel: This is a fish with a rich taste, slightly salty and mixed with sour. In general, these fish are interesting on the flavorful side of the spectrum.
– Japanese Eel: This fish is also known as Unagi, offers a sweet surprise, and feels soft in your mouth.
– Flounder: This fish also has another name, namely Hirame, it has a slightly sweet taste with a hard texture.
– Gizzard shad: Also known as “Kohada” it tastes good and strong, and is quite expensive in some places.
3. Other Seafood In Sushi
Besides being famous for various types of fish in sushi, there are also various types of seafood such as shrimp, clams, squid and others. What does sushi taste like if combine to seafood, let’s examine below some models of sushi using seafood.
– Shrimp: Shrimp is a popular seafood even if you get the shrimp not from the sea but from the pond. But it is still considered a very delicious seafood. What does sushi with shrimp collaboration taste like? The presence of shrimp in the sushi gives it a buttery and sweet taste. The color of the prawns is a beautiful orange and it adds to the aesthetics of the dish.
– Clams: Using clams on sushi gives it a light sweet taste and a firm texture. If you eat sushi with clams on it, then eat slowly while enjoying the subtle sweetness. The aroma is also prominent and can add flavor to your dish.
– Scallops: what does sushi taste like with added scallops? Scallops also taste like clams. This contributes to a soft, mellow and buttery sweet taste.
– Abalone: What do sushi taste like with added ingredients like abalone? Using Abalone makes the sushi slightly salty and buttery. The taste of the butter is quite unique, the texture is chewy almost like squid but not bad. The price of abalone is very expensive and it is important for you to taste it when you have extra money.
– Squid: Some of the sushi is also enriched with the extraordinary taste of squid. What does sushi taste like with squid added? The presence of squid in the sushi contributes to the sweet taste and gives it tenderness. Usually the squid that is added to the sushi has been cooked for a while. Indeed, squid is not the most common food found in sushi, but adding squid to sushi can affect the taste significantly, the taste is delicious and sweet and extraordinary.
4. Fruits and Vegetables in Sushi
Apart from sushi being complemented by fish and seafood, it turns out that sushi is also present in a form that is collaborated with fruit and vegetables. for those of you who are vegan or vegetarian, it looks like this sushi is for you.
Sushi is synonymous with healthy food even in various corners of the world. It’s not that they don’t use preservatives or a little oil, some sushi also use a fair amount of vegetables and fruit.
However, of course all the ingredients in the sushi contribute to the taste. Likewise, sliced fruit and vegetables are used in certain types of sushi.
Check too:
– What Do Plantains Taste Like? Do Plantains Taste like Bananas?
– How to Fillet Bluegills and Other Pan-fish
Among the vegetables and fruits used in sushi are:
– Cucumber: A very popular fruit used in sushi is cucumber. Cucumber is not only useful for its refreshing and juicy effect, but also adds a crunchy texture to your bites.
– Carrots: Looks like carrots are a great substitute for cucumbers or vice versa. In fact, both are often cooked for certain dishes. There are also sushi that use carrots that have been steamed properly as a filling. What does sushi with a combination of carrots taste like? It gives a sweet and woody taste.
– Avocado: For the visual presentation of sushi, avocado makes a really good ingredient. But avocado is also not only limited to aesthetics, the benefits of avocado in sushi are as a neutralizer for the dominant flavors in it.
– Shitake mushrooms: This mushroom are meaty, tender and buttery, they are a great addition to sushi for a different taste.
– Bell pepper: The Peppers are added to sushi for extra sweetness and texture.
– Daikon radish: The Daikon radish is also often an added ingredient in sushi, it contributes to the sweet and mild taste and it also contributes a bit of spiciness.
– Pickled plums: Adding pickled plums to your sushi can give it an extra salty and sour taste. It also features a sweet, tangy taste and it pairs well with sushi rice.
Apart from some of the ingredients above, in this group there is the use of mangoes to complement the sushi. Besides that, sushi is also combined with several fruits and vegetables such as: Shiso leaves, Lettuce, Asparagus. Asparagus in sushi imparts a hint of sweetness, bitterness and an earthy grassy feel.
Check out more:
– How to Fillet Bluegills and Other Pan-fish
– What Does Ginger Ale Taste Like? Does It Taste Good?
Characteristics of High Quality Sushi
Various restaurants that serve sushi, of course, have their own way. For you as a customer, you also have a standard in assessing the taste of sushi and its visuality.
However, sometimes not all of the sushi that is presented is of good and best quality. There is a way of judging sushi, whether it is high quality or not. Here we will talk about high quality Sushi.
1. Sushi rice
To find out if your sushi is good enough and of good quality, you must first look at the characteristics of the rice which change the important ingredients in the sushi. The rice used in sushi should be sticky and stick together, meaning it doesn’t fall apart when picked up with chopsticks or with your hands. Also, the rice in the sushi must be at body temperature, the rice must also separate one by one when you eat it.
2. Toppings
If you enjoy Nagiri then the toppings should match the size. If there are too many toppings, it will overpower the sushi rice, also can leave your palate hanging.
3. Fish
Then, to determine the quality of your sushi, try to pay attention to the fish (if your sushi uses fish). Fish should not smell fishy, if it smells fishy then it must be neutralized by adding vinegar to the fish before you serve it.
Fish must also have the right humidity, if the humidity is excessive then this will only disgust. If it’s too moist, chefs usually remove this moisture by adding salt.
The color of the fish in the sushi must be bright, the consistency must be firm, it must also be shiny but not greasy. Fish slices should not be wet and the most important thing is that they are clean and have maximum taste.
Conclusion
To get an answer to your question “what does Sushi Taste like”, this is not enough to describe the dish as a whole, unless you taste it yourself from a variety of sushi.
However, this short article has described in general the taste that various variations of sushi have. The most important thing is that sushi is served with maximum taste, not strong and light so that it seems to lose its taste. The various ingredients used should provide a distinct taste in a light and rich way.
Sushi seems to be just ordinary food, but presenting it according to taste is very difficult and a high quality sushi must be served in such a simple, simple way but only a professional chef can present real sushi.
