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Maki is rolled sushi — vinegared rice and fillings rolled up in a sheet of nori seaweed and sliced into bite-sized rounds. The full name is makizushi, from the Japanese maku, meaning "to roll".
It's the style most people picture when they think of sushi, though it's only one of several.
The main types:
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Hosomaki | Thin rolls, about an inch across, nori outside, usually a single filling like tuna or cucumber |
| Futomaki | Thick rolls, two inches or more, several fillings, often vegetarian |
| Uramaki | Inside-out — rice outside, nori inside. The California roll is one |
| Temaki | Hand rolls, cone-shaped, eaten immediately by hand |
| Gunkanmaki | "Battleship" — an oval of rice wrapped in nori with soft toppings like roe |
Common hosomaki you'll see on a menu:
- Tekkamaki — tuna
- Kappamaki — cucumber
- Shinkomaki — pickled daikon radish
- Negitoromaki — fatty tuna with scallion
Uramaki is largely a Western development. The rice-outside style was popularised in North America, reportedly because diners were unfamiliar with the look and texture of seaweed on the outside. The California roll — crab or surimi, avocado and cucumber — is the best-known example, and most of the elaborate named rolls on Western menus, heavily garnished and drizzled, are uramaki. They're much less common in Japan.
Maki vs. nigiri vs. sashimi — the comparison people usually need:
| What it is | Rice? | Seaweed? | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maki | Rolled and sliced | Yes | Yes |
| Nigiri | A slice of fish pressed onto a mound of rice | Yes | Rarely |
| Sashimi | Sliced raw fish on its own | No | No |
| Temaki | Hand-rolled cone | Yes | Yes |
| Chirashi | Fish scattered over a bowl of rice | Yes | No |
The key point: sashimi is not sushi. Sushi refers to the seasoned rice, so a dish without rice isn't sushi at all, regardless of how the fish is cut.
What goes in it. Not all maki contains raw fish, which is worth knowing if you're cautious about that:
- Raw fish — tuna, salmon, yellowtail
- Cooked seafood — crab, prawn tempura, eel (unagi), surimi
- Vegetables — cucumber, avocado, pickled radish, carrot, asparagus
- Other — tamago (sweet omelette), tofu, cream cheese in Western rolls
Kappamaki (cucumber) and avocado rolls are entirely vegetarian, and eel and tempura rolls are fully cooked.
How it's made: sushi rice is spread over a sheet of nori on a bamboo mat (makisu), fillings are laid in a line, and the mat is used to roll it into a tight cylinder. The roll is then cut into six or eight pieces with a very sharp wet knife. For uramaki, the rice goes on the outside of the nori and the roll is often coated in sesame seeds or roe.
The rice is the point. Sushi refers to the rice, not the fish — short-grain rice seasoned with rice vinegar, sugar and salt. Getting the rice right is considered the hardest part of the craft, and it's what a sushi chef is judged on.
How to eat it: maki is traditionally eaten in one bite, which is why it's cut to that size. Chopsticks or fingers are both acceptable. Dip the fish or nori side into soy sauce rather than the rice, which otherwise soaks up too much and falls apart. Ginger is a palate cleanser between pieces rather than a topping, and mixing wasabi into the soy sauce is common in the West but frowned upon in Japan.
A note on the name: in Japanese, maki on its own just means "roll", so "maki roll" is technically redundant — though it's completely standard usage in English. For a related question, see what calamari is.