Sushi Sashimi Sushimi

The Common Misconception

Both the terms sushi and sashimi are commonly mistaken as related words. It is only a coincidence that these words sound familiar, and they have no relations in definition. The most common mistake is sashimi being referred as “sushimi”, and there is no such word.

The word sushi originally means fermented fish. Over a period of 2000 years this dish (and the character symbols that are used to represent the word "sushi") has evolved into the Edo style sushi, or the sushi commonly known today. Sashimi on the other hand directly translates to cut or sliced meat. The term is usually used for raw meat in general, and is not limited to sushi, but sliced raw fish is the common understanding.

Modern sushi is a combination of vinegar seasoned rice, and a main ingredient (commonly a raw fish). On the otherhand, sashimi is a presentation of sliced raw meat by itself and has many varieties in size, shape and thickness depending on the ingredients. Tougher ingredients are sliced thinner and wider with special long and thin models of sashimi knifes, and softer ingredients are cut thicker and bulkier. The sashimi emphasizes on using the best area of the ingredient more than sushi does, since it is the only ingredient of the dish. Many different methods are performed on the sashimi such as arai (shocking in ice water), yuarai or yubiki (quick poach and shocking with ice water) and varieties of curing methods (shime).