Borrowed fromJapanese寿司(sushi,“sushi (sour rice)”), ultimately from archaic conjugation酸し(sushi,“sour, vinegared”) of modern adjective酸い(sui,“sour, vinegared”).
A Japanese dish made of small portions of sticky white rice flavored with vinegar, usually wrapped inseaweed and filled or topped with fish, vegetables or meat.
Not long ago a newspaper reporter came to interview me on the subject of unusual foods, and I described to him the persimmon-leafsushi made by the people who live deep in the mountains of Yoshino—and which I shall take the opportunity to introduce to you here.
I lived in New York all my life. We used to have Chinese restaurants, ltalian restaurants. Now you have thesesushi restaurants. Everyone goes forsushi.Sushi—I hate the stuff. Although, I tell you, I had some the other day. I took it home, I cooked it, it wasn't bad. It tasted like fish.
To appreciatesushi, you have to forget the tastes and textures that come with Western cuisine. At first glance (or should I say taste?), asushi of flounder will not be that different from asushi of sea bream. But, for the Japanese, these twosushi are as different as roast beef and roast pork are for a Westerner.
(countable,rare) One of the portions from this dish.
1983 May 31, Robert Nadeau, “Restaurant: Gyuhama of Japan: Suit yourself with sushi”, in Richard M. Gaines, editor,The Boston Phoenix, volume XII, number22, Boston, Mass.: Boston Phoenix Inc.,→ISSN,→OCLC, section 2,page10, column 3:
You will recall that, contrary to the relative appearance of the words, the sashimi are the simple raw fish slices and thesushi are the rolls of rice and raw fish.
Rusty put asushi in her palm. / Mary Kate popped it into her mouth. It tasted salty and crunchy. “Cucumber!” she said. / “My grandmother puts a surprise in the middle of each one,” said Rusty.
1997, Jeffrey A. Kottler, “Focusing on People”, inTravel That Can Change Your Life: How to Create a Transformative Experience (Jossey-Bass Psychology Series), San Francisco, Calif.: Jossey-Bass Publishers,→ISBN,page92:
I reach out and pop asushi into my mouth while I’m waiting for someone to answer a question.
2009 September 14, Frank Penater, “Undercover”, inThe Gene Card, Bloomington, Ind.:iUniverse,→ISBN,page161:
Startled by the venom, Erik almost dropped asushi into his mixture of soy sauce and wasabi.
(proscribed) Raw fish, especially as a Japanese dish.
2012, Alison Acheson,Molly's Cue, page26:
'Can't eatsushi?' I said. Then Mom said, 'You can't eat uncooked fish when you're pregnant' as if I'm the one stupid enough to go and get pregnant!
Some non-Japanese people assume the defining component of sushi is raw fish, and occasionally use "sushi" to mean "raw fish". Raw slices of fish (or other meats) served without rice are properly termedsashimi.[1]
The collective plural ofsushi is generallysushi. When referring to two or more types of sushi or to multiple instances of sushi the plural is usuallysushis.
“sushi”, inKielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish][1] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki:Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland),2004–, retrieved2023-07-03
Borrowed fromJapanese寿司(sushi), ultimately from the archaic adjective酸し(sushi,“sour, vinegared”) (modern counterpart:酸い(sui)), derived from酢(su,“vinegar”), of uncertain further origin.
sushi(Japanese dish made of small portions of sticky white rice flavored with vinegar, usually wrapped in seaweed and filled or topped with fish, vegetables, or meat)
