| Kaibashira |
Large scallops, giant clam adductor muscle or
shellfish valve muscle, though often scallops are served, much like
cooked scallops but more tender and sweet. Kobashiri are small scallops and like kaibashira
may or may not come from scallops or other bivalves. |
| Kaiware |
Daikon-radish
sprouts (Spicy Sprout). |
| Kajiki |
Swordfish. |
| Kaki |
Oysters. |
| Kamaboko |
Imitation
crab meat. Generally used in california rolls and other
maki, it's not the same thing as "soft shell crab".
|
|
Kampyo |
Dried gourd.
Unprepared is a light tanish color. Prepared its a
translucent brown. It comes in long strips, shaped like
fettuccine. |
|
Kanibo |
 Crab meat.
Usually the real stuff, but also substituted with crab stick or
imitation crab. Always served cooked, much better if
cooked fresh but usually cooked and then frozen. |
| Kanikama |
Imitation
crabsticks. Many Japanese restaurants will not hesitate
to just call these Kani. Kamaboko and Kanikama are
generally made with pollack or halibut, not "real
crab meat". |
| Kanpachi |
Very young
yellowtail. |
| Karei |
Flatfish. |
|
Katsuo |
 Bonito, also
known as skipjack tuna. It is usually found in sushi bars
on the west coast because it lives in the Pacific Ocean,
and doesn't freeze well. |
| Kazunoko |
Herring roe.
Also
see Roe. |
| Kohada |
 Japanese
shad or gizzard shad (or young punctatus, it's latin
species name) a lightly flavored white fleshed fish. |
| Kuruma-Ebi |
Prawn. |
| Mackerel |
(Saba)
|
|
Maguro |
 Tuna. Not
toro ->
 ,
toro is the tuna belly (i.e. the fatty part) and maguro->
is the leaner flesh from the "sides" of
the fish.
Bluefin tuna, Thunnus thynnus is one
of the largest fish on the planet. It is also one of the
most sought after commercially. Weighing up to 1500
pounds, this fine fish commands a high price at Japanese
fish markets. Caught and flash-frozen off the
northeastern coast of the United States and Canada, they
are shipped by air to Japan to quench their insatiable
appetites for this fish. Known as maguro in sushi bars,
it is one of the most popular items. The meat is bright
red and translucent. The flavor is meaty but not fishy.
It is served raw, alone as sashimi, in rolls (teppamaki),
or on beds of rice (nigiri-zushi). |
| Maguro
Sashimi |
Fresh raw
lean tuna fillets (no sushi rice) |
| Makajiki |
Blue marlin.
|
|
Maki-Sushi |
 The rice and
seaweed rolls with fish and/or vegetables. Most maki
places the nori on the outside, but some, like the
california and rainbow rolls, place the rice on the
outside. |
| Masu |
Trout. |
| Meji
(maguro) |
Young tuna. |
| Mirugai |
Geoduck or
horseneck clam or surf clam, slightly crunchy and sweet. |
|
Narezushi |
Some restaurants in Tokyo serve this
original style of sushi, called narezushi made with
freshwater carp. Cleaned, raw fish is pressed between
layers of salt and weighted with a stone. After a few
weeks, the stone is removed and replaced with a light
cover, and a few months after that, the fermented fish
and rice are considered ready to eat. Its flavor is so
strong that it obscures the fish's identity altogether,
and narezushi is something of an acquired taste. |
| Natto |
Fermented
soy beans. (Not just for breakfast anymore) Very strong
smell and taste, also slimy. Most people don't like it.
Order it once, if for no other reason that to see the
confused look of the chef. >;) |
| Natto
Temaki |
Fermented
soybean handroll. |
| Negi-Toro |
Tuna belly
and chopped green onion in a roll. |
|
Nigiri-Sushi |
 The little
fingers of rice topped with wasabi and a filet of raw or
cooked fish, shellfish, vegetable or omelet. Generally the most common form
of sushi you will see. |
| Ni-ika |
Squid
simmered in soy-flavored stock. |
|
Nori |
Dried
seaweed, used to wrap around the rice and filling in Maki-sushi.
The green-black wrapping around sushi rolls consists of
washed, chopped, pressed, dried and toasted Porphyra
seaweed blades.These species are known variously as
"laver" (England), "nori"
(Japan, North America), "kim" (Korea), "sluckum"
(First Peoples of the North American Pacific Northwest)
and
"karengo" (New Zealand). |
| Nori-Tama |
Sweetened
egg wrapped in dried seaweed. |
| Octopus |
(Tako)
|
|
Odori |
 Uncooked
sweet shrimp. |
| Odori-ebi |
Live "dancing" shrimp. They are soaked in
sake (rice wine) until they are drunk, then dipped in a sauce and popped into your
mouth. Then you quickly bite them to kill them and chew
and swallow. I've heard that the dipping sauce is quite
good. |
| Oshi |
Osaka-style
sushi: squares of pressed rice topped with vinegared/cooked
fish. This is a form of the original sushi which is made with fermented
fish. |
|
Oshinko |
Japanese
pickled radish, yellow in color. |
| Otoro |
Fatty
portion of tuna belly. |
| Pickled
Radish |
Oshinko (Oshinkomaki, radish roll) |
| Plum
Roll |
Ume and
cucumber maki-sushi |
