Sushi is a classic Japanese food that has become popular all over the world. However, sushi served in restaurants outside of Japan can turn out a little strange. Sushi hybrid concoctions such as the California roll filled with avocado and crab, and the caterpillar roll, topped with avocado and made to resemble a live caterpillar, have been delighting foreign taste buds for years. But exactly what kind of sushi do the Japanese prefer?
A survey asked 500 MyNavi News members (246 males, 254 females) to share their favorite sushi topping. Surprisingly, tuna is not the most popular.
#1 –Salmon 【44.4%】
“It goes well with sliced onion and mayonnaise, and is also delicious by itself. The flavor goes well with a variety of toppings.” (Female, 37)
“It’s hard to mess up sushi when topping it with salmon.” (Male, 26)
“When the salmon’s really fresh, it’s even better than fatty tuna.” (Female, 28)
#2 – Chu Toro, Medium Fatty Tuna 【29.4%】
“It kind of melts in your mouth. So good!” (Male, 47)
“Maguro and fatty tuna are classics, but when it comes down to it, I prefer medium fatty tuna.” (Female, 25)
#3 – Negi Toro, Green onion tuna 【27.4%】
“It has the perfect amount of fat.” (Male, 24)
“I like the more intense flavor。” (Male, 36)
“Negi toro is so good I could eat a couple tons of it.” Female, 21)
“It’s the only kind of raw fish I’ll eat.” (Female, 31)
#4 – Maguro, Tuna 【27.0%】
“I can eat the lean cuts of tuna without worrying.” (Male, 46)
“It’s cheap but delicious and very refreshing.” (Male, 28)
“I like the classics.” (Female, 29)
#5 – Ikura, Salmon Roe 【21.8%】
“I always order ikura first when I eat out at a sushi restaurant. I’m not satisfied unless I have it.” (Female, 31)
“I like how the ikura pops in your mouth” (Female, 20)
“I like the texture and salty taste.” (Male, 30)
It’s interesting that second through fourth place are all different kinds of tuna. Other types of tuna were also voted for, including oo-toro (fatty tuna), zuke toro (tuna marinated in soy sauce), and bin toro (Albacore tuna). Those who voted said they enjoy the fatty meat of any type of tuna and think of it as classic sushi.
But even though maguro tuna is considered “the classic,” MyNavi News members overwhelmingly preferred salmon to any other raw fish. These Japanese survey takers seemed to have very strong opinions about their favorite type of sushi; we wonder how they would react to Western sushi like this:
