wored: Japanese Food Sushi

Sushi is a type of Japanese cuisine featuring seafood and Sumeshi (vinegared rice). The most common type of Sushi is Nigiri-zushi, also called Edomae-zushi because it was first made in Edo during the Edo era. It is made by shaping Sumeshi with the hands and putting a piece of fresh seafood on top. Many of the Nigiri-zushi have grated Wasabi (Japanese horse radish) in between the rice and seafood. Nigiri-zushi without Wasabi is called "Sabi-nuki". Kaitenzushi (conveyor belt Sushi) is different from Sushi at restaurants were the chefs make each piece after taking orders. At Kaitenzushi restaurants, plates with already-prepared Sushi are placed on a rotating conveyor belt and customers can choose the types of Sushi they would like to eat. Depending on the restaurants, you can let the chefs know what you want rather than selecting from the ones provided. Unlike regular Sushi, Kaitenzushi is a lot more reasonably-priced in most cases. Other than Nigiri-zushi, there are other types of Sushi. Maki-zushi is rolled Sushi made by rolling Sumeshi and ingredients with a piece of laver using a bamboo mat. There is a wide variety you can choose from for the ingredients such as cucumbers, Natto, and tuna. Without rolling the Sushi but mixing various ingredients directly into the Sumeshi and serving it on plates for each person is called Chirashi-zushi. As for Oshi-zushi, it is not the same everywhere but has regional characteristics. It generally refers to the type of Sushi made by pressing hard on layers of Sumeshi and ingredients for an adequate amount of time to form a block of Sushi. One of the typical types of Oshizushi is Osaka's Battera. It is made by placing marinated slices of mackerels, topping it with Shiraita-konbu, and pressing it all together. While Nigiri-zushi has to be eaten right away, Oshi-zushi does not get spoiled so quickly since it can retain its freshness longer. In various parts of Japan, you can find many other types of Sushi such as Kakinoha-zushi (Sushi wrapped in persimmon leaves), a local specialty of Nara, Wakayama, and Ishikawa prefectures, as well as the long, bar-shaped Gozaemon-zushi of Tottori and the multi-layered Iwakuni-zushi of Yamaguchi.