EEL:

Anago, a salt water eel, most often used for Sushi in the U.S., is also known as the conger eel.  It contains more vitamin A than any other seafood and although it has a relatively high caloric content, its taste is simple and refined.  Broiled or boiled in a special sauce just prior to serving, Anago is beautiful as it is tasty.  Sushi chefs guard their Anago recipes closely, often keeping details in their heads rather than risk setting down their secrets on paper.  Ana-kyu-maki, a type of Hoso-maki (thin-rolled) sushi, is fashioned of conger eel, rice and cucumber rolled up in nori (seaweed).  This is another visually stunning yet simple type of Sushi.

Eel Roll, sometimes called Unagi Sushi, is a classic inside-out roll of eel (raw or fried), rice and cucumber or avacado rolled in nori (dried seaweed).  It is often drizzled with eel sauce (also called kabayaki sauce), a thick and sweet hickory flavored heated concoction.

Hamo is the Japanese word for the Pike eel.  It takes great skill to prepare hamo; it has thousands of very fine bones that are tenderized with cuts from a razor-sharp knife.  These cuts fluff up the meat so that it is similar to a peony blossom, making it a beautiful and elegant dish.  It can also be grilled, shaped into an elongated oval with sushi rice, garnished with sweet soy sauce and sliced into single-serving pieces.

Freshwater eel is called Unagi and is usually imported to America from Taiwan and China.

Sauces

Sauces are very important to good sushi.  Whether they’re drizzled onto the sushi or used to dip it in, each one is carefully made with quality ingredients. Shoyu, or soy sauce, is probably the best known to the American public.  This salty sauce is prepared from fermented soybeans.  There are many kinds of soy sauce and each has a distinctive taste.  The best ones have a flavor resembling wine.  Usukuchi shoyu refers to “light” soy sauce.

Zuke isn’t a sauce but means “marinated”, another important technique in the art of sushi.  In the Edo Period sushi was habitually served after being marinated in soy sauce. But these days, it is common to find sushi being marinated in citrus, sake, or vodka according to the discretion of the sushi chef.

Another sauce is Mirin, a sweet rice wine that tastes like Sake but has a much lower alcohol content.  It’s often added to get rid of fishy smell or add brightness to the flavor.  Chefs use it sparingly as the flavor is very strong. Ponzu is another popular sauce; tart and citrus based, it is thin and light yellow in color.  Chefs use it as a dressing for lightly grilled meats as well as a dipping sauce for sashimi.

Wasabi isn’t a sauce but a condiment.  Akin to horseradish, it has a very strong flavor and its heat has been compared to hot mustard.  If you prefer your sushi without wasabi, you ask for “Sabinuki”.

Ume-shiso is a tart plum paste (neri ume) with shiso leaf mixture, a combination that is very popular among sushi lovers. It supposedly has therapeutic palate cleaning properties and leaves a pleasant after taste in the mouth.  Gari, or sweet pickled ginger, is also served with some sushi to cleanse the palate between courses.

Vegetables

Tofu is often used in sushi.  It is used to wrap inari-sushi and also in miso soup and noodle dishes.  Tofu is used to make Aburage, thinly sliced tofu that is deep-fried and used to wrap inari-sushi.  Aburage is also frequently stuffed and re-fried.

Daikon means “large root”.  This mild-flavored giant white Asian radish has many names including “mooli” in Hindi, or “moo” in Korean. It is generally shaped like an oversized carrot and plays an important role in Japanese Sushi cuisine.  Raw grated daikon is often used as garnish for salads, Sashimi and as an ingredient in Sushi.

Edamame is a dish of young, immature soybeans in their pods.  They are boiled and served whole with condiments. Most sushi bars offer Edamame as a starter dish, a kind of Far Eastern appetizer.

Gobo, or burdock root, is usually soaked in vinegar to neutralize its bitterness before begin prepared as food. Young roots are used in fresh salads after being peeled and older roots are cooked or roasted then added to soups or cooked with tofu.  Gobo has an earthy taste and a slightly chewy texture paired with crunchy sweetness which makes it an excellent addition to sushi, as an ingredient or a garnish.   Kampyo: dried gourd strips that are rehydrated before using.  They are usually marinated in a sweet sauce, providing a wonderful contrast to other flavors in the sushi.

Plain boiled rice is called Gohan.  It is rinsed several times until the water is clear.  After soaking for about half an hour, it’s boiled for one or two minutes then covered and simmered until done.  The word also means “meal” in Japanese.  Most of us are familiar with Harusame, also called cellophane noodles and Japanese vermicelli.  The name translates as “spring rain” and aptly describes these translucent noodles that are made from bean gelatin or potato starch.

Oshinko, or pickled vegetables, are used both as a garnish and a topping for sushi.

Takuwan refers to pickled daikon, normally a deep yellow color. This sometimes forms part of an oshinko order and is considered a great vegetarian roll option.  Tsukemono are pickled vegetables such as daikon, turnips or cabbage and even cucumbers.  Gari is also a sort of tsukemono. Tsukemono can be served with rice, and also be prepared as a sushi.  Fruits are also pickled; a good example is Umeboshi, a small and tart pickled plum that is often used in sushi rolls.