Sushi For The Mind.

[This is a second post for the day, so be sure to check the post under this one! Thanks-]

Topic!: Not all sushi contains raw fish.

For most people I've spoken to, they've all had this idea that all sushi contained raw fish.

Well, let's break it down.

• Nori is the black stuff on the outside, the edible seaweed. [picture]
  
• The white stuff on the inside is usually steamed white rice with a little vinegar and sugar. [picture]
  
• Nigiri is sushi that has raw fish or seafood. Usually the raw fish is placed on top of some rice and wrapped with a piece of seaweed, the nori. This type of sushi usually only contains the piece of raw fish and the rice. [picture]
  
• Maki is sushi that is usually wrapped in seaweed and then again in rice, or just wrapped in seaweed. This type of sushi is probably most common, and can be found almost anywhere. It can contain cucumbers, eels, carrots, avocado, etc. You can have whatever you want in it. (There are sub-categories with this type of sushi; including futomaki, hosomaki, kappamaki, temaki, and uramaki.) This maki type of sushi is cylindrical. [picture]
  
• Sashimi is where people only eat slices of raw fish. It's very expensive because the quality of the fish has to be extremely high. Usually the slices are dipped in soy sauce for taste, and maybe a bit of wasabi for spice. [picture]
  
• Wasabi is usually in a paste form made from Japanese horseradish. When eating it, only a little bit with soy sauce can cause a sudden flare through the nasal passages. Also, the taste is very peculiar, and if you're going to try it for the first time, only dab a tiny bit! Most pastes you find are imitations, since the real thing is highly expensive [sushi is expensive anyway unless you make it yourself]. But that's okay, because who knows the difference unless you're a connoisseur right? [picture]
  
• Last but not least, try to never get store bought sushi. No matter how convenient it sounds, or how good it might look, the rice is never fresh and still textured [the rice gets all mushy and it turns into one big piece of white stuff if left compacted too long], and the ingredients inside are not the greatest nor the freshest. If you can't afford to get the real stuff, then indulge at least once in your life, but I don't advise wasting your money on the ones you find in your local supermarket [unless you live in Japan, then maybe you can find some decent ones].

I hoped this little guide helped you a bit in figuring out what there was to sushi, but this was only the tip of the iceberg. If you're interested, just Google sushi and you can find more information on this foreign delicacy.

All the pictures in this post retain the rights from the website/url that they are from. I didn't take the pictures in this post.