More about sushi

Sushi is an acquired taste – a culinary hobby of sorts with beginner, intermediate and advanced levels.

“Beginners usually start with rolls and become more adventurous as they go along,” said Linda Zheng, co-owner of Nana Sushi, etc., in Chesapeake. “They start with cooked seafood and sauce and then go to raw.”

Our mission this month was to test the most popular “house rolls” at the four sushi restaurants with the most reader nominations. Those, however, tended toward more “Americanized” rolls, with sauces and toppings. Our testers, whose tastes tended toward more authentic constructs, lusted after other dishes that sushi chefs were creating.

So we asked the chefs at each restaurant to recommend sushi for the more advanced palate. Here are their picks:

Nana Sushi, etc. – Owners Desmond Chang and Linda Zheng recommend the Seafood Naruto, ($12) which they say is “our most refreshing roll.” This is a raw fish, no rice presentation of tuna, salmon, white tuna, yellowtail, avocado, caviar, crab stick all wrapped in a cucumber sheet. The plate is decorated in a dual-colored spiderweb pattern of wasabi mayonnaise and sriracha sauce. Since the sauce doesn’t touch the roll, it’s the customer’s choice whether to use it.

“People who like sashimi will love this,” Zheng said. “It’s beautiful, too.”

Kyushu Japanese Restaurant – Sushi chef Mark Bedzik suggests the Futomaki Roll ($7.95). “Futomaki” means fat roll, and sushi bars generally have their own versions. Kyushu’s contains tuna, cucumber, crabstick, egg omelette, mushroom, pickled radish and kampyo (sundried squash), all rolled in rice and an extra-large sheet of seaweed.

Bedzik also noted that Kyushu’s menus are printed in English and Japanese.

Sushi aka Japanese Fusion – Sushi chef and co-owner Michael Hart recommends the Yellowtail Scallion Hand Roll, ($6.75) which features sliced yellowtail, a dab of wasabi on the bit of rice, sliced cucumber and scallions, topped with toasted sesame seeds.

“A lot of more experienced sushi eaters like hand rolls because there is less rice and more fish taste,” Hart said.

Daikichi Sushi Japanese Bistro – The sushi chef suggested the Sushi Sampler 005 ($17.95), 10 pieces of assorted fresh sushi and the roll of the day, which might be a Tuna Roll or Manhattan Roll, or one of the restaurant’s many other specialty rolls. (The name of the item may change on the new menu that will debut soon.) Not in the mood for a roll? Try the chirashi, ($15.95) mixed sashimi upon sushi rice.