Maybe you love sushi, but you’re not sure you’re completely familiar with all the different types of sushi or the items available. Fortunately, you can find that information here, as well as key phrases that can have you talking to your Japanese sushi chef like a native.How to read the menu at a sushi barWhen you go out for sushi, the number and variety of dishes on the menu can be overwhelming.

This light, refreshing cucumber and wakame salad possesses just the right amount of thin, crunchy cucumber in proportion to delightfully chewy wakame seaweed, to tease your palate into wanting more.Tip: Make the dressing, and soak and drain the wakame and cucumbers well in advance, refrigerating them until needed.

Miso soup with Manila clams is a big hit in Japan, and for good reason. The nutty flavor of miso finds a perfect partner in the sweet flavor of clams. If you can’t find Manila clams, choose another type of clam, preferably small ones.A rich and diversified world of miso is waiting to be enjoyed. You can use any salty (not sweet) miso, red or white, for this soup; this recipe recommends shinshu miso, which is a pale salty miso.

You might think rice is rice, but making sushi rice takes a special touch (and a lot of steps!). Because the rice is such an important part of any sushi dish, don’t forego the sushi-rice preparation. Special sushi tools: Rice cooker, sushi paddle, sushi tub Preparation time: About 1 1/2 hours Cooking time: About 25 minutes Yield: 5 to 6 cups 2 cups short- or medium-grain white rice 2 cups water 1/4 cup rice vinegar 1 tablespoon sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 2-inch square piece of dashi konbu 1 tablespoon sake, or to taste Remove the inner pot from the rice cooker, placing the raw rice into it.

To store fresh seafood that you've bought for sushi, you must follow some storage guidelines. All fresh seafood needs to be stored chilled — either in a refrigerator, freezer, or container of ice — to keep it tasty and safe for you to eat: When you get your raw fish home, here’s what do to: Immediately put the fish in the coldest part of your refrigerator (usually the bottom portion) until you serve it.

This recipe takes the classic crème brûlée and bumps up the flavor with an Asian twist, crystallized ginger. Crème brûlée is a custard that’s baked in the oven, chilled until firm, and finally covered with a thin crackling crust of caramelized sugar. Preparation time: 15 minutes Cooking time: 40 minutes Yield: 8 servings 1 1/2 cups heavy cream 1/2 cup whole milk 4 eggs 1/4 cup plus 1/3 cup sugar 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 3 tablespoons (about 3/4 ounce) finely minced crystallized ginger Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Keep sushi dry goods in a cool, dry, dark pantry or cupboard —as for all dry food ingredients. Sushi dry goods quickly deteriorate if exposed to heat, moisture, or light. Most of these sushi dry goods are best used within six months of opening, and should be refrigerated or frozen after opening: Dashi konbu (dried kelp): Resembles broad, leathery, wrinkly ribbon.

Some of the ingredients you use in sushi need to be refrigerated — and not only the fresh, raw fish that you can use to create sushi magic. Look for these refrigerated sushi ingredients in your local Asian market: Pickled ginger: Sweet and tart at the same time, sliced pickled ginger plays a major role in sushi.

What distinguishes Japanese sushi knives from Western-style knives is that many types of Japanese sushi knives are honed on only one side, the right side, to create the sharpest cutting edge possible. Sushi knives primarily fall into three categories: A heavy duty cleaver: Used for tough jobs, such as cutting through thick fish bones and filleting whole fish.