All You Need to Know when Ordering Sushi – The Complete Guide

Sushi – the quintessential Japanese cuisine which is often the most popular dishes to try when visiting Japan.

In 2013, Sushi was declared by UNESCO as an official intangible cultural asset, and is well known throughout the world.

However, there are often a bamboozling array of different sushi types – even just looking at the varieties of Sashimi, it can be difficult to know what type of fish is available. The Kanji characters for Sushi are also difficult, where sometimes even Japanese people are unable to read some of them!

However, it’s certain that sushi can be enjoyed more if one has a better understanding of it.

Therefore, we have prepared below a list of popular sushi types along with their explanations in our Sushi guide table below.

The Sushi Catalogue

Sushi image	Japanese	Pronunciation	English	Prime season	Original form
	鮪 まぐろ	Maguro	Lean tuna	Oct – March
	中トロ	Chu-toro	Medium-fatty tuna	Oct – March
	大トロ	O-toro	Fatty tuna	Oct – March
	烏賊 いか	Ika	Squid	Sep-May
	サーモン	Salmon	Salmon	Sep-Oct
	帆立 ほたて	Hotate	Scallop	Dec-Mar
	鯛 たい	Tai	Red snapper	Nov-May
	小肌 こはだ	Kohada	Gizzard shad	Sep-Oct
	鯵 あじ	Aji	Horse Mackerel	May-Aug
	鰤 はまち	Hamachi	Yellowtail	Oct-Feb
	甘海老 あまえび	Ama-ebi	Sweet Shrimp	Sep-May
	海老 えび	Ebi	Shrimp	Sep-May
	数の子 かずのこ	Kazunoko	Herring roe	Mar-Apr
	鰻 うなぎ	Unagi	Grilled eel	July
	玉子 たまご	Tamago	Fried Egg	All year
	イクラ	Ikura	Salmon roe	Sep-Oct
	ネギトロ	Negi-toro	Minced fatty tuna	Oct-Mar
	雲丹 うに	Uni	Sea Urchin	June-Aug
	鉄火巻き てっか	Tekka-maki	Tuna roll	Oct-Mar
	河童巻き かっぱ	Kappa-maki	Cucumber roll	All year