Learn about the Top 5 Sushi Items
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| Hello, and welcome back to JapanesePod101.com. |
| I’m Eric. |
| In this lesson we will talk about the "Top 5 sushi items”. |
| The first topic on the list is tuna, the most popular |
| sushi item, which is known in Japanese as (J: ma-gu-ro). |
| Based on the fat content, the tuna meat is |
| broken up into two main groups, (J: toro) and (J: |
| a-ka-mi). |
| The fatty belly meat, (J: toro), is further divided |
| into (J:oh-toro) and (J: chu-toro). |
| The fattiest and the most expensive cut is (J: |
| oh-toro). But some people prefer the other (J: |
| chu-toro) because they find it less fatty but still |
| flavorful. |
| Meanwhile, the leaner meat from the sides of the |
| fish is called (J:aka-mi). If you order any kind of |
| tuna sushi without requesting (J:toro), you |
| would likely get this cut. |
| The next topic on the list is salmon, which the |
| Japanese pronounce as (J: sā-mon). |
| Salmon is a relatively new fish for sushi use, |
| but its oily texture and strong flavor has made it one of the most popular sushi items. |
| In Japan, what is known as “salmon” in |
| English-speaking countries is called (J:sa-ke). |
| But when you order salmon sushi in restaurants, |
| you would most likely be served cultured and |
| less-expensive “rainbow trout” (J: niji-masu). |
| The reason behind this is that wild-caught |
| （J:sake) is extremely difficult to serve fresh as |
| they often contain parasites. |
| The next topic (on the list) is Salmon Roe, which in Japanese is called (J: ikura). |
| When making the salmon roe sushi, a sushi chef |
| places those reddish-orange caviar on top of a |
| bite-size rice ball, then wraps the piece with a |
| seaweed sheet. This traditional shape of sushi |
| is called “battleship” or (J: gunkan-maki). |
| To add more color and texture, battleship-shaped |
| sushi is often served with a slice of cucumber |
| on top. |
| But you can also use the slice to dip into the |
| soy sauce, rather than dipping the whole sushi |
| piece, so that your sushi doesn’t get too soggy. |
| The next topic is egg, which is called (J: tamago) in Japanese. |
| The main ingredient for the egg sushi is a sweet egg omelet. But this simple sushi is known to |
| require years of practice for sushi chefs, so |
| only high-quality sushi restaurants can offer |
| decent egg sushi. |
| By the way, you might see people ordering the egg |
| sushi at the end of the meal as a sweet dessert. |
| But there is no rule about this, you can of |
| course order them anytime you want. |
| The last topic (on the list) is California Roll which is (J: Kariforunia rōru) in Japanese. |
| The California Roll was first invented in the U.S. |
| in the 1960s and re-imported to Japan. This |
| sushi has seaweed on the inside and the rice |
| on the outside as opposed to a regular sushi |
| roll. |
| Nowadays, the California roll can be found on |
| menus around the world, using ingredients like |
| avocado, crab meat, tuna, and cucumbers. |
| Making California rolls at home is also easy and |
| fun. Just pick your favorite fillings and enjoy |
| the endless varieties of this creative dish! |
| That’s all we have for this lesson. |
| What is your favorite sushi item? Why do you like it? |
| Leave us a comment and let us know! |
| Thanks for listening and we’ll see you next time. Until then, bye! |
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