Ingredients: Seaweed, rice, grilled salmon skin, avocado

Preparation: Inside-out

Popularity: Niche

Generally we’re told in North America to throw away the skin of any meat or seafood we might cook.

"Don’t eat chicken skin, it’s full of fat!"
"Peel the fish skin back so you can get at the meat!"
"Pork rinds? Ugh!"

But anyone who has tried a Salmon Skin Roll can tell you that not all skin is bad. In fact, a nice baked or grilled salmon skin inside an avocado filled inside-out sushi roll is quite the taste sensation.

Not only that – fish skin isn’t bad for you. It’s got loads of oils, such as Omega-3, and nutrients that often find their way into over-the-counter health products.

Just make sure it’s scaled first…

Ingredients: Seaweed, rice, barbecued eel, avocado

Preparation: Inside-out

Popularity: Growing

Eel lovers totally dig this dish, but there’s not nearly as many eel lovers as there should be out there – especially in North America. 

The Unagi Roll is barbecued eel with a little avocado thrown in to cut the taste and texture with something smooth and sweet, and it’s a heck of a good combo.

Some sushi houses in your local area may vary a touch from this basic core of the dish (like adding cucumber or roe, or even other seafoods), but that tangy eel flavor and the sweet buttery goodness of the avocado are a potent combo.

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, 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. 

Ingredients: Rice, seaweed, smoked salmon, cucumber, avocado, cream cheese (optional), wasabi paste (optional)

Preparation: Standard

Popularity: Moderate to low

Depending on where you are, the recipe for a smoked salmon roll will vary. Most sushi houses will put smoked salmon together with cream cheese, to make a dish that’s almost a bagel in nature.

But the more exotic sushi establishments will sometimes add wasabi paste to the mix – a hotter, but altogether incredible food experience, as the bite of the wasabi mixes well with the tang of the salmon. 

Variations on this theme sometimes include smoked salmon wrapped around the outside of the roll, while others still go with the inside-out preparation method, of rice on the outside, seaweed inside that, and the rest of the dish in the center. 

Not a classic Japanese favorite by any stretch, but I’ll have six to go!

Ingredients: Rice, seaweed, barbecued eel, avocado, tempura shrimp, burdock root, cucumber, flying fish roe

Preparation: Inside-out

Popularity: Moderate in the US

Another in the long line of sushi rolls in which decoration on a theme is almost as important as taste, the Dragon Roll tends to come with a slightly higher price tag, but if it’s done right, it’s worth every penny.

The avocado is usually draped across the top of the roll to give a ‘dragon scales’ effect, with the bright orange roe going on top of that to give contrast.

Inside, it’s all good stuff – BBQ eel, crunchy tempura shrimp, and the burdock root/cucumber combo to fill things out.

The Dragon Roll is a bit of a fatty dish, due to the deep-fried tempura, and while some variations might include hot sauce, or chili, to give it a fire-kick, generally at most sushi houses it’s a very mild menu item.

Ingredients: Rice, seaweed, sweet egg, burdock root, avocado, asparagus, crab meat, cucumber, shitake mushrooms, daikon

Preparation: Standard

Popularity: Low in US, high in Japan

Not a sushi dish for rookies, the Futomaki Roll is a Japanese specialty that combines a whole load of flavors in one tight package.

Even the names of the ingredients tend to get Americans a little fearful, with tamago (egg), yamagobo (burdock root), radish pickle (daikon) not exactly being staples of the Starbucks crowd.

But hey, you only live once – take a chance on a flavor you haven’t tasted before and mark the Futomaki down as something to try on your next visit to your favorite sushi chef.

Ingredients: Rice, seaweed, eel, cucumber, avocado, smelt roe

Preparation: Inside-out

Popularity: Moderate

No, it’s not actually made of caterpillars; the caterpillar roll is dressed up to look like an insect by virtue of the green avocado, sesame seeds, and bright red masago (smelt roe) laid across the top.

Inside, it’s unagi (eel) and cucumber, which is a pretty one-dimensional combo, but it’s the good stuff on top that makes this a sushi dish to remember.

Some restaurants take the caterpillar theme to extremes, adding octopus suction cups as eyes, and bizarre additions as legs shooting out the sides… but none of this helps make the dish more palatable.

Just forego the extras and enjoy the meal.

Ingredients: Rice, seaweed, cream cheese, scallions, smoked salmon, cucumber, avocado, sometimes onion

Preparation: Inside-out

Popularity: Moderate 

Named after the home of Philly cream cheese, this Americanized sushi dish would almost be an hors d’oeuvre, if not for the seaweed and rice.

Made inside-out (or in the Urumaki style, as such sushi is known), and usually topped with sesame seeds or flying fish roe, the cream cheese replaces the usual Japanese mayonnaise in this mild dish, with the flavor of the smoked salmon making its presence felt in no uncertain terms.

Ingredients: Rice, seaweed, tuna, salmon, crab, shrimp, avocado

Preparation: Inside-out

Popularity: Moderate in the US, not so much in Japan

If you like stuff the comes from the sea, this is truly the sushi dish that will get you there. A Rainbow Roll is essentially seafood on seafood on seafood on seafood, wrapped in seaweed, with a California Roll in the middle.

The salmon usually comes in the form of a piece of sashimi draped over the top of the roll, leaving the tuna, crab, shrimp mix to combine inside, often with Japanese Mayonnaise as a means of keeping it smooth and together.

Usually, to create the ‘rainbow’ appeal of the dish, sushi chefs will add lines of tuna, yellowfin, albacore, and shrimp to the top, so that each piece has a different colored (or even multi-colored) appearance.

The Rainbow Roll is part of the California-family of sushi, which is all made inside-out, and frequently comes with cucumber, avocado and mayonnaise.

Ingredients: Rice, seaweed, prawn tempura, crab, cucumber, avocado, mayonnaise

Preparation: Inside-out

Popularity: High in the US, not so much in Japan

The Dynamite Roll sounds like it would give you a big hot kick, and that’s a mistake some less educated sushi first timers sometimes make.

In reality, this is a nice variation on the California-family of sushi menu items – think of it as one step beyond the Spider Roll, which is a step beyond the California Roll.

Generally, when dynamite Roll is served, the last piece of sushi on the roll features a prawn tail sticking out the end. Just so you know, it’s not offensive to leave the tail uneaten.

As one of the ingredients in this dish is deep-fried, be aware that it’s just a little more calorific than many other dishes.

Ingredients: Rice, seaweed, crab meat, avocado, cucumber, daikon sprouts, mayonnaise

Prepared: Inside-out

Popularity: Huge

The spider roll, though not exactly named for those with a queazy stomach, is essentially a california roll with the addition of daikon sprouts (sometimes) and with the crab meat deep-fried before preparation.

The crab, cucumber, avocado, mayonnaise combo goes down well with a Western tongue that is perhaps unfamiliar with more exotic types of sushi, but the crunchiness of the fried crab makes for a more ’substantial’ meal for those who feel rice and a piece of crab isn’t a ‘real’ menu item.

Because it involves frying, a spider roll has about 15% more calories than a Cali Roll, but so be it – we love it!

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

Prepared: Inside-out

Popularity: Huge

If you’re looking for a simple, easy-to-eat sushi item for beginners, the California Roll is a nice one to start with. It’s the sort of menu item that contains nothing ’scary’ for westerners, nothing chewy for those who get queazy with new textures, and let’s face it – crab, avocado and a little mayonnaise sounds like something you’d order from a corner deli. That means, if your dinner date has never tasted sushi before and is a little timid about the experience, start with a california roll.

Lots of sushi restaurants will use imitation crab meat for a California Roll, which means you’re really getting shark meat colored to look like crab, but the difference isn’t overly noticeable unless you’re a sushi snob.

Usually a Cali Roll will be covered with sesame seeds on the outside, though better establishments will use tobiko (or flying fish roe) which looks like yellow or orange caviar. In some areas, such as the Philippines, a slice of mango is added to the California Roll.

A great base dish – try the Spider Roll variation, with fried crab!