Sashimi

Sashimi vs sushi: the key difference

The two terms are often used interchangeably, but the distinction is simple: sushi needs rice, sashimi does not. A slice of raw salmon on a hand-pressed oblong of rice is nigiri – in other words, sushi. The same slice on a plate without rice is sashimi. In Japan, sashimi is often treated as the more refined course and served before the sushi.

Without rice there is nothing to hide behind. The colour, sheen, texture and flavour of the fish are fully on show. That is why many diners see sashimi as the most honest test of a Japanese kitchen.

The cut defines the texture

Sashimi literally means something like “pierced body”. The fish is cut with a long, single-bevelled knife in one smooth pulling stroke so the fibres are not crushed. The thickness depends on the fish: rich salmon can take thicker slices, while leaner fish is often cut more thinly.

Good sashimi has smooth, glossy cut surfaces and sits neatly on the plate. Ragged edges usually point to a blunt knife or too much pressure.

Salmon sashimi – a young tradition

Salmon is now the most popular sashimi in Europe, yet in Japan it is a fairly recent arrival. Wild salmon was long considered unsuitable for eating raw because of possible parasites. Only when farmed Norwegian salmon was exported to Japan in the 1980s and marketed specifically for sushi and sashimi did it catch on.

Tuna, by contrast, has been a classic for a long time. Depending on the cut, the lean, deep-red akami is distinguished from the fattier belly meat. There is more on this in our glossary entry on tuna (maguro).

How to eat sashimi

Sashimi is eaten with chopsticks. If you like, add a touch of wasabi directly to the slice and dip it briefly in soy sauce. Pickled ginger between different fish helps to reset your palate. Start with the leaner fish and finish with the richer one, so no flavour masks the next.