Ingredients: Seaweed, rice, barbecued eel (Anago), Japanese parsley (Mitsuba), cucumber

Preparation: Inside-out

Popularity: Growing

Though a lot of people still won’t try eel, just because it’s not as common to westerners as chicken, there are a growing number of sushi fiends who, while looking to try something different, stumble upon the flavor and texture of one of Japan’s most popular seafoods.

The Anago Roll is basically an eel roll, and as such it can be made many different ways. Some have mayonnaise, some use egg as the outer skin of the roll (as seen in the photo above), which gives it an interesting yellow appearance (especially when topped with gold fish eggs), but really the only thing that you need to make an Anago Roll and Anago Roll is, well, Anago.

Seriously, give it a try. Eel won’t bite… well, as long as it’s barbecued first, anyway.

Ingredients: Rice, seaweed, spring roll paper, crab, egg yolk

Preparation: Prepared like a spring roll, only with rice and seaweed paper along the inside

Popularity: Minor

Another novelty sushi roll built for not-so-honed tastebuds, the Sushi Spring Roll is essentially a Crab Roll made with spring roll paper on the outside, dabbled with egg yolk to seal the roll, and then deep-fried.

What will you get out of it that you wouldn’t get from a stand-alone spring roll? Not much. But if you’re eating Japanese and the spring roll urge hits, and you spot this on the menu… why not?

Filler ingredients may vary, but we most often find the Spring Roll Sushi Roll containing crab. You may find it done with vegetables, fish, pork – whatever – but if you have a taste for the crab, you’ll generally find (a version of) it here.

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.