100 Kinds of Sushi

#7 Hotate – Scallop

Scallop is a simple delicacy compared to the other more exotic seashell options. You will expect them often in a sushi restaurant. I think scallop only taste good when served raw and it loses a great deal of its taste when cooked. You can taste the Unami (rumoured 5th sense of taste, representing freshness, just like eating MSG) of the scallop when it is served fresh. And it tastes very good in that way. You should look for sushi grade scallop. In the US the sushi grade scallops are flash...

#6 Ebi (Shrimp)

Ebi means shrimp in Japanese. It is simple but nice. Shrimp can be served raw or cooked in nigiri sushi. The cooked ones are more chewy in texture and the raw ones taste a bit more watery (should not be be too slimy if the shrimp is fresh enough or big enough). Bigger shrimp has a better texture and usually is me pricey. As some people are not very used to eating meat raw, it might be a good idea to eat these crustacean cooked because they might contain quite a lot of bacterias if uncooked. A...

#5 Tako (Octopus)

When used in sushi, octopus meat is poached slightly before being used. (You have to because octopus skin is full of bacterias and possibly parasites) Before it is cooked, octopus skin is semi-transparent and it will turn into a solid white colour after being cooked briefly. The cut of octopus meat is especially important because if you made too thick a cut, the sliced octopus will be too thick to chew on. It takes a sushi master to do the job well, because the octopus meat is so slippery an...