Worldwide, sushi chefs call the rice shari, a word taken from the Buddhist term for the cremated relics of the Buddha, which the small white grains were thought to resemble. It is an unusual name for the most ordinary thing on the plate. It also tells you exactly where a chef’s attention is supposed to go, and it is the reason the whole menu makes sense once you stop looking at the fish.
Sushi is defined by its rice, not by its fish. Any dish built on vinegared rice is sushi, and the different types of sushi take their names from how that rice is shaped, wrapped or served.
The main types of sushi are nigiri, gunkan, maki, temaki, chirashi, oshizushi and inarizushi. Sashimi, despite sitting beside them on almost every menu, contains no rice and is not sushi at all.
This guide explains each one, what to expect when you order it, and how to eat it properly.
Sushi means the rice
The word sushi comes from an old Japanese adjective meaning sour, and it describes the rice rather than anything placed on top of it. Seasoned with vinegar, salt and a little sugar, that rice is called shari. The fish or other topping is the neta.
The method began as preservation. In narezushi, fish was packed into fermenting rice for months and the rice was then thrown away. By the Edo period, cooks had found that vinegar produced a comparable sourness in minutes, and the food stalls of Tokyo started serving the rice and the fish together.
This is the single most useful thing a beginner can know. If a dish has shari, it is sushi. If it does not, it belongs to another part of the meal.
The types of sushi, by name
These are the types of sushi names you will meet most often on a Japanese menu.
| Name | What it is |
| Nigiri | A hand-pressed finger of shari with a slice of fish laid over it, usually with a trace of wasabi between the two |
| Gunkan | A band of nori wrapped around shari to form a small cup, holding something loose such as roe or sea urchin |
| Maki | Rice and filling rolled inside nori, then cut into rounds |
| Temaki | A cone of nori hand-rolled around rice and filling, eaten straight away |
| Chirashi | Sliced fish and garnishes scattered across a bowl of shari |
| Oshizushi | Rice and topping pressed together in a wooden mould, then cut into blocks |
| Inarizushi | Shari spooned into a pouch of sweet fried tofu |
Nigiri is where a chef has nowhere to hide. Two ingredients, no sauce, and a piece of rice that has to hold its shape between the fingers and then collapse in the mouth. Pressure, temperature and the angle of the knife account for nearly all of the difference between good nigiri and forgettable nigiri.
Types of sushi roll explained
Sashimi is fish sliced and served without rice. The name refers to the cutting, and the dish is judged almost entirely on the quality of the fish and the handling of the knife.
It appears next to sushi on menus, including ours, because the two draw on the same deliveries and the same preparation. They are still separate things, and knowing which is which will save you a small amount of embarrassment at the table. You can see how both are set out on the Satori menus.
Sashimi is not sushi
Maki is the category; the types of sushi roll within it are separated by thickness and by where the nori sits.
- Hosomaki: a thin roll, nori on the outside, one filling, cut into six. Tuna or cucumber are the classics.
- Futomaki: a thicker roll with several fillings, cut into larger rounds.
- Uramaki: inside-out, with the rice on the outside and the nori hidden within. The California roll is the best-known example.
- Temaki: the cone, rolled to order and eaten in the hand before the nori softens.
Uramaki is worth a note, because it is where a lot of confusion starts. It was developed for American diners who were unused to seaweed, and it carried the sauced, deep-fried, many-ingredient roll into sushi menus worldwide.
A Japanese roll is usually the opposite: one or two ingredients, precisely cut, with nothing added to cover them. The restraint is the point.
Why the rice is the difficult part
Fish can be bought. Rice has to be made, every service, and it is where most sushi quietly fails.
Cooked rice is turned out into a hangiri, a wide wooden tub, and the seasoned vinegar is cut through it with the edge of a flat paddle rather than stirred. Stirring breaks the grains. The wood draws off steam as the rice is fanned, leaving each grain separate and faintly glossy.
It is then held at hitohada, skin temperature, for as long as service allows. Cold shari is the most common fault in a sushi restaurant and the easiest to notice: the rice tightens, the fat in the fish stops softening against it, and the piece arrives as two ingredients rather than one.
Edo-period chefs worked with akazu, a red vinegar made from aged sake lees, which tinted the rice amber and carried more depth than the clear rice vinegar that later replaced it. Some kitchens have gone back to it. Many also brush the fish with nikiri, a reduced soy glaze, which is why a piece that arrives already glazed needs no soy at all.
How to order and eat it
Work from light to rich. White fish first, then shellfish, then the oilier fish, then anything seared or heavily marbled. Richness coats the palate, so a piece of mackerel eaten before a piece of sea bream will flatten the bream.
Eat nigiri as soon as it arrives. Shari is served close to body temperature, and a few minutes on the plate firms the rice and dulls the fish. Fingers are perfectly correct for nigiri, and often easier than chopsticks.
Dip the fish, not the rice. Rice soaks up soy sauce, falls apart, and overwhelms everything the chef balanced. If wasabi has already been placed between fish and rice, it does not need any more, and it should never be stirred into the soy dish. Ginger is a palate cleanser to take between pieces.
At Satori, sushi and sashimi sit alongside the robata grill, so a meal here rarely begins and ends with rice. If you are eating Japanese food properly for the first time, tell the team when you sit down. They will pace the order for you, and questions about allergies, preferences or what to try first are answered every night of the week. Practical details are set out in the Satori FAQ, and larger tables can be arranged through private hire.
For wider context on Japanese food culture, the Japan National Tourism Organization is a reliable starting point. Satori’s own entry in the MICHELIN Guide covers the restaurant itself.
Common questions
What are the main types of sushi?
Nigiri, gunkan, maki, temaki, chirashi, oshizushi and inarizushi. Each is a different way of presenting the same vinegared rice.
What is the difference between nigiri and maki?
Nigiri is a pressed block of rice with a slice of fish on top. Maki is rice and filling rolled in nori and cut into rounds.
Is sashimi a type of sushi?
No. Sashimi has no rice, so it falls outside the definition, even though it is usually served on the same menu.
Is sushi eaten with the hands or with chopsticks?
Either is correct for nigiri. Chopsticks are the easier option for maki and for chirashi.
Do I need to book in advance?
Booking is advisable, particularly at weekends. Current availability and dietary information are listed in the FAQ.
Once the names make sense, the menu stops being a test. View the sushi and sashimi menu at Satori.
