Common Sushi Items

1. Horse Mackerel

Horse Mackerel has a few types that are among the Mackeral family, it is often referred to as Jack Mackeral. The length is about 40cm, and it can be commonly seen in Japan’s coastal waters. A characteristic of the Jack Mackeral’s body is Sengo, which are spike like and protrude from the back. The Horse Mackeral that have settled in Tokyo Bay are plump, in season their backs shine with a golden color. Horse Mackeral taste better with ginger than with wasabi, therefore, ginger is often placed on the top of the nigiri-zushi.

Best Time to Eat: Late Spring-Early Summer (May-September)

2. Common Japanese Conger

The Common Japanese Conger has over 150 varieties that are known about, the length ranges from 30cm-1m it depends on the type. In Japan among all Common Japanese Congers, Maanago, a type of Conger, is used the most for food. The Common Japanese Conger is a standard Edomaezushi type. It resembles eel, but compared with eel it has less fat. The Common Japanese Conger is spread with a soy sauce based sauce.

Best Time to Eat: Summer (June and July)

3. Ika

From shallow waters to the deep-sea squid live in every sea; the length ranges from about 2cm-20cm, and varies by type. A special characteristic of the squid is that it has multiple hearts. There is a separate heart from the essential organs portion. It is said the squid swims by consuming ocean water and then spraying it out. The consistency of the squid is tough to chew, and often has a refreshing sweetness, which is enjoyable

Best Time to Eat: Spring, Summer, and Autumn

4. Sea Urchin

Sea Urchins mainly reproduce in shallow water areas. They also have spikes that are used to defend themselves against predators, and to move. There are said to be about 800 types of sea urchins, however, there is only one that can be used for food. When eating a sea urchin separate the shell and eat the gonads, which are inside. Sea urchin is very soft, for this reason, the way it is generally eaten is by placing it on top of sushi rice and then wrapping the rice in seaweed. However, recently the essential taste has been the seaweed thus harming the flavour; as for the sushi some sushi masters have not been placing the seaweed around it.

Best Time to Eat: Summer-Autumn

5. Salmon Roe

Salmon Roe in Japanese is called Ikura, but this is actually not Japanese it comes from Russian. Ikura originally means fish eggs, but in Japan it refers specifically to Salmon Eggs. Using salt to preserve the salmon roe was handed down from the Taisho Period (1912-1926); currently pickling in soy sauce has become the mainstream. The Salmon roe type depends on the type of Salmon it comes from; generally the Sockeye Salmon roe is used. Salmon Roe are small eggs, therefore they are usually placed on top of rice and wrapped in seaweed.

Best Time to Eat: Beginning of Autumn (September-November)

6. Ark Clam

Ark Clam is also called Chikai in Japanese, which means blood clam. The reason for this is because the main part of the body is red because it’s red as blood. The Ark Clam is one of Edomaezushi’s standard sushi. As for this sushi it’s said that it is tastier when it’s smaller. Recently, from the influence of over fishing in the Tokyo Bay, the number has decreased; therefore, these calms are either imported or cultivated.

Best Time to Eat: Spring-Summer ( October-April)

7. Lobster, Prawn, Shrimp

There are many types of shrimp, but in terms of sushi there are generally three types that are used. Sweet Shrimp’s size is small; therefore for nigiri - zushi they place two shrimp on top of the rice. One can gather from the name that the shrimp is sweet and very tasty. Prawns are basically boiled. Natural Prawns are expensive, but recently they have been cultivated; recently because of advancements in technology the cultivated shrimp taste just as good as the natural ones. Shiyako is a little different from shrimp, but it is used often for sushi.

Best Time to Eat: Sweet Shrimp (Winter), Prawn (Beginning of Summer, Winter), Shiyako (Summer)

8. Skipjack Tuna

Skipjack Tuna prefers warm seawater, so it mainly reproduces in the Southern Seas. When it becomes spring they can be seen in the coastal waters of Japan heading north. The length of the Skipjack Tuna is generally around 50cm, big ones can approach 1m. Small dried flakes of Skipjack Tuna are used much in Japanese cooking; it is also used to make nigiri- zushi. The fish used for nigiri - zushi are the ones that are returning to southern seas at the beginning of autumn. This is the season when the fish is full with good quality fat.

Best Time to Eat: Spring for refreshing taste, Autumn for a fatty taste

9. Greater Amberjack

Greater Amberjack is a type of Yellowtail fish. It is about 1.5m long, the name changes depending on the size. The Greater Amberjack is the final stage of the Yellowtail fish; it is also the largest of the yellowtail species. The Greater Amberjack is a high-level fish, however, recently with them being cultivated anyone can eat them. This fish taste very good when eaten raw, and is one of the favourites among many Japanese.

Best Time to Eat: Beginning of Summer to Beginning of Autumn

10. Righteye Flounder

Flounder is a flat fish; a characteristic of it is it has one eye on the ride-side, which faces the right. There are more than 100 types of flatfish, for nigiri-zushi, but mainly the Righteye Flounder is used. Righteye Flounder’s white meat is very tasty, and has a taste of simple flavour. It is said that when you eat it while it’s in your mouth and before your mouth becomes oily, the delicate taste is the most interesting. It has little of a strong smell, so there are probably people who really dislike it.

Beginning of Autumn-End of Winter

11. Mackerel

There are two types of Mackeral; ones that prefer cold water and ones that prefer warm water. The more generally eaten Mackeral is Masaba, which is the one that lives in the cooler temperature water. There is also Gomasaba, which prefers warmer water. If it sits out Mackeral will go bad very quickly, therefore, generally when making nigiri-zushi it is patted with vinegar. This is called Shimesaba.

Best Time to Eat: November-March

12. Salmon

In Japan there are two main types of Salmon that are eaten, they are Shirosake, which means white salmon and Benisake, which means male red salmon. In Japan salmon is called sake. Salmon are born in Hokkaido, Japan’s northern most island, and Northern Honshu, the main island in Japan’s rivers. When they grow to become about 5cm, they go down the river to the sea, but when they are about 3-5 years old they can give birth and return to the rivers. The average size is about 70-80cm. Even though salmon is called sake in Japanese, when referring to sushi the word salmon is used. Salmon fat and soy sauce go very well together and are said to make it very good, and grilling the skin of the salmon heats up the fat and results in a mouth-watering flavour.

Best Time to Eat: End of Summer-Autumn

13. Pagus Major

The Pagus Major fish has a lifespan of around 20 years. It’s length is around 1m once it is fully grown. Before the spawning season in order to give birth they build up fat, this fat is said to have a really good flavor. On the contrary once the Pagus Major fish has laid its eggs, they loose the fat and with that loose their good flavour. This is called Mugiwaratai. When making nigiri-sushi the skin is left on then hot water is put on it, and then it is cooled by water, once it becomes soft it is made into nigiri - zushi.　　If this is done, the fat between the skin and the main part of the body is heated by the hot water and it melts in your mouth producing a very good taste.

Best Time to Eat: Winter (November-March)

14. Japanese Amberjack

Japanese Amberjack is about 1.5m when it is fully grown. A peculiarity of the Amberjack is that depending on the size the name changes. When it is small it’s called Wakashi, and when it is over 60cm it’s called Warasa, and when it is over 80cm it’s called Japanese Amberjack. These days cultivated Japanese Amberjack is called Hamachi. When Hamachi is made into nigiri-zushi the meat is very soft, when natural Japanese Amberjack is made into sushi it has an enjoyable crispy texture. There is also a category of Japanese Amberjack called Winter Amberjack, this is because they carry much more fat in the winter and are very tasty.

Best Time to Eat: Winter ( October-Febuary)

15. Flatfish

Flatfish is similar to the Right-eyed flounder in that it has one eye, but this fish’s eye is on the left side. When fully grown the length is around 1m. The flesh at the base of the fins’ fat is said to be of a tough consistency and taste very good. In general it is this portion of the fish that is used for making nigiri - zushi.

Best Time to Eat: Winter (November-March)

16. Tuna

Flatfish is similar to the When talking about sushi, people always think of tuna, which is called Maguro in Japanese. You can catch Tuna anywhere in the world, but out of everyone in the world Japanese are probably the most fond of Tuna. When fully-grown, tuna approaches 3m, because of their large size depending on the section of the tuna the name and the taste will change. Mainly the distinction is made between the fatty areas of the tuna. Firstly, there is the red meat nigiri - zushi, which is mainly muscle; since there is less fat there is a very fresh taste, which is very enjoyable. The Medium Fatty Tuna nigiri - zushi is a mixture of the Red Meat Tuna and Fatty Tuna. The Fattiest Tuna is very fatty, because of this it melts in your mouth. The leftover flesh on the spine is taken out with a spoon, and then it is ground up and placed on top of sushi rice and wrapped with seaweed, and spring onions are placed on top for flavour.

Best Time to Eat: Late Autumn-Winter (October-January)

17. Octopus

Octopi are very intelligent. They can distinguish between different colors, and recognize shapes. In order to protect their bodies they can change and camouflage their bodies to their surroundings. When it senses danger it acts similarly to the squid and releases black ink. If an enemy has captured one of it’s legs it can detach the leg and run away, and the leg will regenerate. Sometimes because of stress the octopus will eat it’s own leg, but it will not grow back then. In Japan Takoyaki, which are fried dough balls, are very popular, the sushi is very popular too.

Best Time to Eat: Summer

18. Japanese Scallop

Japanese Scallops grow to about 20cm. A special feature of the scallop is that they all start out as males, and then along the way half become females. Generally for nigiri - zushi the main portion of the body with the sweetest flavour is used. This section is a muscle that is divided into two slices and placed on top of the sushi rice. Japanese Scallop is cultivated on a large scale, it has a good taste and is very soft, so you can enjoy the flavour year-round.

Best Time to Eat: Year-round

19. Gizzard Shad

The Gizzard Shad is also called Konoshiro. The Gizzard Shad similar to the Japanese Amberjack has a different name depending on its size. The ones that are fully-grown at 5cm are called Shinko, the ones that are fully-grown at 7-10cm are called Gizzard Shad. The gizzard shad fish is very fatty, and is a standard for edomaezushi that people love. The ones that are over 12cm are called Nagazumi. The max size is about 15cm, and these are called Konoshiro. Konoshiro’s specialty is before becoming fully-grown when it is still Shinko it cost about 20,000\/kg, however, once they grow to full size they become very cheap about 1,000\/kg.

Best Time to Eat: Autum-Winter (October-April)

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