One of the most popular exotic dishes to originate from Japan is sushi. The main ingredient of the dish is rice cooked in vinegar. However, now many different types of sushi are available in restaurants, all tasting different but all having rice cooked in vinegar.

The difference is mainly in the toppings and spices that are added to the rice to make it more flavorful. Also the way the dish is prepared matters and changing the preparation method results in a different type of sushi.

The different types of sushi

Even though it was originally a Japanese dish, its soaring popularity has helped spread its unique flavor across the globe. The main types of sushi are as follows:

Nigri Sushi

To prepare this kind of sushi the sour vinegary rice is pressed hard into a rectangle box using hands with a little wasabi and a topping. The topping usually consists of a fish such as salmon or tuna. The fish is mostly raw but can be cooked too.

Oshi Sushi

To prepare this kind of sushi, a wooden box mold shaped like a square is used. Once the rice is cooked and lined with toppings, the mold is pressed down hard on it to give it the particular shape. The mold is called Oshibako, hence the name of the sushi is Oshi Sushi.

Bara Sushi

This is one of the types of sushi where the rice and all the other ingredients are prepared as one would make a salad. The texture is slightly different too.

Chirashi Sushi

Using a special kind of bowl known traditionally as the Gomoku Sushi or Iso-don the rice is covered with layer upon layer of different kinds of fish. For sea food lovers, this is as good as the dish gets.

Onigiri

The rice for this dish are usually steamed and then made into a ball together with the other ingredients.

Temaki

This is one of the types of sushi that is wrapped in seaweed and pressed into a cone. It is one of the most widely eaten sushi.

While the basic ingredients of all types of sushi is rice and fish, many other ingredients are added to the different dishes to make each unique in their own way. The taste, the texture, even the crockery used to serve each sushi is different. That can be one of the reasons the unique flavors of the dishes remain a mystery to anyone outside Japan.