Sushi Ingredients

Wasabi is a very popular condiment in Japanese cooking, finding a home in sushi, grilled meats, and even desserts like wasabi ice cream. It is a bright green, moderately spicy species of horseradish, a type of plant that grows with a thick root (rhizome) and long stems. The root is commonly grated to produce a fine purée that brings out it's flavor. Wasabi has a very unique flavor and spiciness similar to European horseradish, but more of an herbal taste.

Have you ever seen sushi chefs brushing soy sauce on nigirizushi as a finishing touch before placing it in front of the customer? Well it's actually not just soy sauce; it's a sweetened reduced variation called nikiri. Because skilled sushi chefs try to craft the "perfect bite," they must prepare a piece of sushi with all of the flavors assembled into a perfect package, which is why *nikiri* is brushed on rather than letting the customer dip the piece into a sauce dish.

Making sushi requires very high quality fish and ingredients, not just any old fillet from your local supermarket. The quality and freshness of your fish is critical because raw sushi ingredients should taste very clean—not fishy at all. Aside from the freshness and quality requirements, certain species of sushi require special freezing to make them safe for raw consumption.

Yuzu is a truly unique citrus fruit native to China and Japan. Its incredible flavor and distinctly Japanese reputation has made it wildly popular in the Western cuisine, particularly among French and American chefs experimenting with Asian ingredients on their menus.

Delicious, rich, and creamy, Uni (ウニ) is the bright yellow innards of the spiny shellfish "sea urchin." Sea urchins are round shellfish covered in protective spines. The only edible parts are the yellow tongue-like slivers on the inside, which are actually the animal's gonads (reproductive organs). Uni is almost always served raw because it is rich and creamy similar to foie gras (goose liver).