New to Sushi? You Can Be Safe by Trying These for the First Time

You no longer have to look too hard to find a restaurant or even grocery store that sells sushi now. There was a time in Yakima where we had one spot that people knew about for sushi. Though now we have several, some are still weary of it. And for all the right reasons. The squeamishness of eating raw fish is quite a hurdle to get over. Though not all sushi is raw fish, if you're interested in trying sushi but want to play it safe at first, here is a list of things you can order at most places that serve sushi that would be a great place to start.

You'll also hear a lot about how to eat sushi. Things like using your hands or should you use chopsticks (either way is fine, Sushi is finger-food, so if you want to use your hands, go for it) and things like not to bite into it. The entire sushi should be popped into your mouth all at once, I won't bother going over all those. For now, we gotta just focus on you taking that first step into actually trying this in the first place.

Cucumber Rolls
Simple enough. Cucumbers, rice and nori, that seaweed wrap. No fish or anything, nice and simple. I love sushi and still love cucumber rolls and will often get them along with any order. They're also, often, the cheapest item on any sushi menu.

California Rolls
These are usually inside out meaning the rice is on the outside. They're made of cucumber, avocado and crab. Usually imitation crab so if you can tolerate that, you'll be golden. You can often never go wrong with California Rolls.

Boston Roll
A little like Californa Rolls but replace the crab for shrimp that has been cooked. If you like shrimp this is very safe.

Tamago (egg)
Japanese-style scrambled eggs are different than ours, but not in a good or bad way, just different. These are eggs that are more folded each other over and over, then sliced like small, thin bricks. The eggs are mixed with a touch of soy sauce and even a little sugar. Very good and, again, no raw fish.

Unagi (eel)
Though, yes, it's eel, like, eel eel, this eel is teriyaki broiled so it's cooked, not raw. If that helps. This is one flavor that soon as you get the courage to try, most fall in love with it and quickly become a first favorite.

You can also see the ingredients on most menus as some may have different names for other items.

If you can manage these you might brave into anything with salmon or tuna. Those are probably the most popular when it comes to sushi on a budget and are often used in other rolls.

Once you graduate that, you're probably in the clear to try most anything else from scallops in sushi form to even more unique items like sea urchin.