Shari: The Sushi Rice Used For Nigiri
Sushi rice is called sumeshi, but when it is formed into the balls or small blocks of rice used to prepare nigiri, it is called shari.
Some people mistakenly call all sushi rice shari, but when the rice is used to roll makizushi, it’s still called sushi-meshi (or sumeshi).
Some also say shari is made with red vinegar because of it’s more subtle taste which perfectly blends with the large piece of fatty fish draped on it, and that certainly used to be the case, but today white vinegar is the most commonly used because it keeps the color of the rice more intact.
It makes for a much more appealing dish to look at.
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All sushi rice is called sumeshi, but when it’s prepared for the nigiri pieces, you can use shari to make the distinction.
Check out our new cookbook
Bitemybun's family recipes with complete meal planner and recipe guide.
Try it out for free with Kindle Unlimited:
Read for free
Joost Nusselder, the founder of Bite My Bun is a content marketer, dad and loves trying out new food with Japanese food at the heart of his passion, and together with his team he's been creating in-depth blog articles since 2016 to help loyal readers with recipes and cooking tips.
