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/sooh"shee/, n. Japanese Cookery.cold boiled rice moistened with rice vinegar, usually shaped into bite-size pieces and topped with raw seafood (nigiri-zushi) or formed into a long seaweed-wrapped roll, often around strips of vegetable or raw fish, and sliced into bite-size pieces (maki-zushi). Cf. sashimi.[1895-1900; < literary Japn: lit., it is sour]
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▪ fooda staple rice dish of Japanese cuisine, consisting of cooked rice flavoured with vinegar and a variety of vegetable, egg, or raw seafood garnishes and served cold. Restaurants specializing in sushi abound in Japan, where subtleties of preparation find a discriminating clientele.Nigiri-zushi is a hand-formed oblong of rice topped with sliced raw seafood and a dab of wasabi, green horseradish paste; the ingredients of oshi-zushi are pressed to shape in a mold. For maki-zushi, a sheet of nori (laver, a seaweed) is spread with rice, then with seafood or vegetables and garnishes. The whole is rolled into a cylinder and sliced. In chirashi-zushi, a homestyle version, the ingredients are not formed, rather the vinegared rice is strewn with toppings and garnishes. Vinegar-pickled ginger root (sūshoga) is a traditional palate-clearing accompaniment to sushi.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
