Sushi has won over the palates of America.

The Japanese culinary import arrived in California in the '70s and worked its way east to most large cities. Now there are more than 5,000 sushi restaurants in the U.S. by one count. Last year, aficionados spent more than $36 million dollars just on the seaweed used in sushi rolls. There also is an ever-growing shortage of sushi chefs in this country, a situation expected to continue for years, according to Japan's National Sushi Society.

But despite sushi's growing popularity, it is still misunderstood by many people. Hopefully, this primer will help debunk myths and make sushi more approachable.

What is sushi?

Many newcomers to sushi think it is simply raw fish with rice. But raw fish represents only a part of the various toppings or fillings served with the vinegar-seasoned short-grain rice. The topping or filling also can be cooked seafood, as well as meat or vegetables.

Cooked fish used for sushi include smoked eel, smoked salmon, imitation crab and shrimp. Also used are carrots, cucumbers--even Spam.

On the American sushi scene, two kinds are most common: nigiri sushi and maki sushi. Nigiri sushi is the Japanese rendition of an open-faced sandwich. The topping and rice are hand-formed into bite-size pieces and served in pairs.

Maki sushi is the Japanese rendition of a rolled-up sandwich. A regular roll has nori (a seaweed also called sea laver) on the outside wrapped around a filling. A reverse roll, on the other hand, is when the rice is on the outside--as in a California roll. Rolls are served in six to eight bite-size pieces.

What to order

Many people are confused about ordering and eating sushi. It is amazingly simple. Order a sashimi (sah-SHEE-me) appetizer--an assorted platter of sliced pieces of cooked and raw fishes. Sashimi comes from the same fillet used for sushi and offers a good preview of what will be good in the sushi. Base your sushi order on what you like in the sashimi.

The sashimi comes with pickled ginger, soy sauce and wasabi paste (a green-dyed horseradish powder reconstituted with water). Mix wasabi with soy sauce in a small porcelain dish on the table. Dip a single piece of sashimi with chopsticks into the soy/wasabi mixture. Then put it onto your tongue and chew it slowly to savor the flavor. The amount of wasabi to dab on is up to you: It is very hot, so start with a small amount.

The pink slices of pickled ginger are to be eaten between different cuts of fish. Much like a sorbet, ginger cleanses your palate so the previous sashimi or sushi flavor does not interfere with the next one.

Next up: Sushi

On to the sushi. Good choices for beginners, especially those leery of raw fish, are California rolls, egg sushi, imitation crab, shrimp, smoked salmon, smoked eel and tuna.

Then work up to the following on another visit: flying fish roe, geoduck, octopus, salmon caviar, fresh salmon, fresh squid, sea urchin roe, snapper and yellowtail.

Restaurants commonly offer specialties--usually reverse rolls with a combination of ingredients. Names might include dragon rolls, B-52s, banzai rolls, tiger eyes and rainbow rolls. The fillings will vary from restaurant to restaurant, even though they might have the same names.

Eating etiquette

When eating sushi, you can use chopsticks or your fingers. When using hands, prevent the rice from sticking onto your fingers by wetting them with a napkin soaked with a few drops of tea or water.

Just like sashimi, dip one piece of sushi into the soy/wasabi mixture. For nigiri sushi, turn the topping side of the sushi piece down so the topping supports the rice. Dip the topping side into the soy/wasabi mixture and then touch the dipped topping onto your tongue. The topping of the nigiri sushi will prevent the rice from falling when biting down. You may then take what is left between your fingers and dip into the mixture again. You may take as many bites as you wish without setting it down on the plate.

When eating, it is bad form to lick your fingers. The action would be analogous to someone licking sauce off the table knife while eating a Western meal.

Once you have eaten one type of sushi, pick up a slice of pickled ginger with your fingers and take a bite to cleanse your palate. Eating ginger in the same mouthful with sushi is a dead giveaway to the sushi chef and servers that you do not know sushi.

If you run out of the pickled ginger and wasabi, ask for more; it's free.

To round out the meal

The Japanese usually drink the soy bean (miso) soup or green tea that accompanies the meal. Most sushi chefs prefer to drink green tea, claiming that it helps one appreciate the true taste of sushi. Because the tea leaves a subtle bitterness on the tongue, anything eaten after that has an accentuated flavor.