Sushi is one of the most iconic foods you can try in the Big Apple. Since New York is known for being a melting pot of varied and rich cultures, sushi is no longer a secret dish from the Land of the Rising Sun. You can get it right in your neck of the woods. There are even new versions of this dish popping up across the boroughs. While they maintain the Japanese method of cooking rice, several fresh ingredients are now being used to make sushi. But, of course, the classics will always have a special place. It’s the only way you can get a taste of authentic Japanese cuisine.
Many restaurants in New York have classic sushi dishes on their menu. You can get them almost anywhere – food trucks, Japanese bistros, Teppanyaki-style grill houses, and kosher restaurants in NYC.
Down below, we have collected the top classic sushi dishes you should try:
- Tuna
- Spicy tuna
- Salmon
- Spicy salmon
- Yellowtail
- Spicy yellowtail
- Spicy crab
- Sea bass
- Pufferfish
- Eel
On a side note, sushi is most often confused with sashimi and nigiri. People get them mixed up all the time. It’s not exactly anybody’s fault. These dishes resemble each other in many ways. You should know the difference so that you won’t embarrass yourself in public.
What’s the difference between sushi, nigiri, and sashimi?
Sushi
Sushi is mainly composed of rice. It is hand-rolled with other ingredients such as meat (crab sticks, salmon, tuna), fruits (avocado, mango) and vegetables (cucumber, carrot). Then, it is hand rolled into a sheet of seaweed (nori) that they slice into bite-size pieces.
Sushi can be subdivided into three different categories namely uramaki, maki, and temaki. Uramaki is when the seaweed or the nori that is used to wrap the sushi is on the inside while the rice is on the outside. Maki is when the nori is on the outside. Lastly, temaki is when the sushi is made to shape like a cone using the seaweed.
Sashimi
When you see the word sashimi, you should remember that it is solely meat. No other ingredient is included in the serving.
Nigiri
Nigiri is a special kind of dish. It is sashimi served on top of rectangularly molded rice. The sashimi can either be raw or cooked, and the sashimi can be other types of meat and seafood. A favorite alternative they use is unagi (grilled freshwater eel).
So, as you can see, it can be quite confusing. If you made a mistake of interchanging these words before, it’s not a problem. You at least know the difference now, and you can surely order the right one when you order sushi at your favorite restaurant.
These are the top things you need to know if you want to order sushi in NYC. Knowing these can undoubtedly help you out when you want to eat Japanese cuisine in the big city.
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