"smithfarms pure kona" > wrote in message
news
>
> FYI We in Hawaii live relatively closely to Japan--and we have a lot
> of Japanese influence as a result. The word <sashimi> means fresh raw
> fish. The word <sushi> means a roll of rice, with small bits of
> tastes in the very middle and covered in black dried seaweed-nori.

That type of sushi (rolled with nori on the outside, cylindrical in shape)
is specifically called maki-zushi. The kind you roll yourself (nori on the
outside, conical in shape) is te-maki-zushi. The kind that most people
think of as sushi (rice on the bottom, a bit of wasabi, fish/egg/whatever on
top) is nigiri-zushi (except for ikura or uni, which has nori on the
outside, but is not rolled like maki-zushi). Futomaki-zushi is long, wide
maki-zushi that is not sliced. Then there's chirashi-zushi which is a whole
other topic (imo).

As for the word 'sushi', the actual kanji (Chinese characters) has nothing
to do with fish or rice at all. IIRC, the character usually used for 'su'
commonly means 'longevity' and I can't remember what 'shi' means, but not
rice or fish or vinegar. There are other variations for writing 'sushi'
which do involve 'fish' in the meaning, but not the most commonly seen one
(which is at the bottom of
http://member.nifty.ne.jp/maryy/eng/sushi_kanji.htm ). The kanji for
sashimi has nothing to do with fish, either. The best site I've seen with
definitions of different types of sushi and sashimi is at
http://www.4japan.info/Food%20-%20sushi.htm . You may have to go to
www.4japan.info first, then click on food, then sushi/sashimi.

rona
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