Ingredients: Rice, seaweed, spicy sauce, scallops, cucumber, avocado, asparagus, daikon

Preparation: Hand roll, occasionally inside-out or ship roll.

Popularity: Moderate

A Spicy Scallop Roll is basically a California Roll with scallops in place of the crab, which makes it a nice compliment to the Cali if you’re a fan of seafood in sushi… or a nice alternative if you’re kind of over the basic roll, but not looking to get too adventurous. 

The strength of the Spicy Scallop Roll comes almost entirely from the quality of the scallops. Here’s a hint: frozen does not equal ’sushi quality’.

But that same ingredient also causes the greatest amount of pain for sushi chefs, as the squishy nature of the scallop means it often falls out of regular inside-out rolls. This means a Spicy Scallop Roll will usually be made in a cone, or ‘hand roll’ style. You might also find it prepared in a ’ship style’ roll, in which the bottom of the roll is pulled tighter than the top, thereby giving it a ship shape, and making it easier to hold when eaten.

Ingredients: Rice, seaweed, salmon, crab, avocado, cucumber, mayonnaise

Preparation: Inside-out

Popularity: Low

So you’ve tried the California Roll, and you’re like, okay, not bad. A little bland, but good lunchtime filler.

So what’s the next step up? Try the Tiger Roll.

The Tigey is a California Roll with baked salmon draped over the top, which while it might sound like only a slight variation on the usual theme, if the fish is fresh, it’s really frickin’ good.

Of course, the majority of Americans will order this because it has a funky name and the white and orange of the salmon gives it a somewhat tiger-like appearance, but there’s more to this dish than meets the eye (alone).

Think of it this way – if you usually order salmon sashimi and a california roll… doesn’t it make sense to save time and combine the two?

Ingredients: Rice, seaweed, spicy tuna, fresh tuna, cucumber

Preparation: Inside-out

Popularity: Low to moderate

It looks nice on a plate, that’s for darn sure, but in reality, this is tuna on tuna with some rice thrown in. And maybe that filler of all fillers, cucumber. But mostly tuna.

Those who enjoy a spicy tuna roll will like the added touch of fresh tuna draped over the top, in what gives this dish its two-tone appearance, but more seasoned tuna diners will forego the sushi roll altogether in getting their fishy-fix, and just dig in on some tuna sashimi.

But hey, not everyone is down with the act of slurping down mouthfuls of straight fish, so if you need the comfort of a little rice and seaweed (and sesame seeds and rice and…), then by all means, ‘enter the dragon’.

Ingredients: Rice, seaweed, crushed tempura batter

Preparation: Inside-out

Popularity: Mid-range 

This is one kind of sushi roll that you don’t want to order if you’re on a diet. It’s literally nothing more than rice, seaweed and crushed tempura batter sprinkled on top – the sushi equivalent of a bread sandwich. 

But as with any sushi dish, this one can be elevated several levels if the person preparing it adds a little flair.

Tobiko roe, sesame seeds, cucumber, avocado, wasabi… these are just some of the items that can be included in the dish, and it’s not uncommon to find crab or vegetable tempura substituting for the more fattening tempura batter, or even to have the entire roll dipped into, and fried in, tempura batter.

However, if you’re looking for something ‘vanilla’ on the sushi menu, this is one to consider.

Ingredients: Rice, seaweed, yellowfin tuna (Ahi), cucumber, daikon, avocado

Preparation: Standard roll

Popularity: Moderate

A relatively simple sushi roll recipe, this is one of those menu items that confuses North Americans because many sushi restaurants prefer to call it by the Japanese name for Yellowfin – Ahi – which requires a little translation to non-Japanese speakers.

In essence, this is just a tuna roll with a little veg thrown in, but if the yellowfin is of high quality, that can be more than enough to make it a great dish for sushi fans.  With some roe (tobiko) on top and wasabi on the side, it beats a freakin’ cheeseburger, that’s for darn sure.

There is some variation on this recipe from chef to chef, with some preferring to use Bigeye Tuna (Thunnus Obesus) instead of Yellowfin (Thunnus Albacares). You can usually spot the difference because Bigeye has a much richer pink/red color than Yellowfin, though if the fish is large and old enough, a Yellowfin will eventually find its meat of a similar deep red color.

You may also find crab used in some ahi rolls, or even tempura, but put those down to the usual variations from sushi restaurant to sushi restaurant and assume you’re dealing with tuna and veges, and you can’t go wrong.