Japanese cuisine enjoys well-deserved popularity all over the world. Residents of Ukraine also fell in love and appreciated delicious and healthy dishes from the Land of the Rising Sun. The culinary traditions of Japan go back centuries – many interesting and memorable recipes have survived to this day. And yet, the majority will prefer sushi and rolls that have already become traditional. They have long been a hit at Watatsumi Restaurant thanks to the variety of flavors, the use of only fresh ingredients and the professionalism of our chefs.
Ordering sushi or rolls from us has long been a sign of good taste and a desire to please relatives or friends with masterpieces of culinary mastery from the homeland of samurai and kimonos. But many do not always understand – what is the difference between these two dishes. Despite the similarities, there are still differences, although the same products are used as the main components in both cases. Let’s see how sushi differs from rolls, but what is tastier is up to you to choose.
The main differences between the two Japanese delicacies
Common to these dishes is the use of high gluten rice, rice vinegar, soy sauce and seafood. But the methods of preparation and serving, the external form and the combination of products differ. The word “rolls” itself comes from the English roll, which means roll or bundle. Indeed, when preparing rolls, their contents are twisted into nori leaves – dried seaweed, and then cut into the required number of rounded servings. Sushi is made in the form of oblong lumps of rice covered with fish slices or pieces of seafood and is usually tied with a nori ribbon.
Many chefs even consider rolls to be a kind of sushi that has a different shape. But we will formulate the main and significant differences that distinguish these two Japanese delicacies: what is the difference between sushi and rolls
- Cooking method. In order to make rolls, they use a special bamboo mat for folding – makisu. Sushi is prepared only by hand. You can find out in our article how to cook sushi at home.
The form. In fact, rolls are made in the form of rolls with components wrapped in the middle, sushi is just rice with pieces of stuffing on top. - Delivery method. Sushi is always served chilled and uniformly, but rolls are not so conservative in this. Some can be baked and served hot, such as the yaki-maki variety. And in nori-maki rolls, nori seaweed is placed at the top.
- Method of use. Traditionally, sushi has to be eaten with special chopsticks. There are no such restrictions for rolls, they can be consumed with the help of hands.
- Variability. Traditionally, more types of various fillings can be used in rolls. Sushi is more conservative – in the classic version, fish or seafood are provided.
Interestingly, to prepare sushi according to the classic recipe, it is not necessary to use only raw fish. It should be noted that many types of river fish are not suitable for eating raw – even the traditional wasabi hot sauce will not help here. By the way, one of the most used and favorite ingredients in the manufacture of sushi, salmon, is strictly forbidden to use in its raw form.