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Sushi isn’t an everyday meal for me.  I know that healthy eaters around the world have consumed it forever, but it’s not “easy” to determine calories, ingredients and portions unless you are skilled enough to prepare it yourself.  In fact, solving the mysteries of all of the sushi options, along with the varying ways chefs create them is quite exhausting.  I’m lazy Skinny, so my meals are usually easy and fast to calculate.

Still, doing the research and educating myself many years ago was worth it.  You just can’t beat that sushi taste sometimes, can you?  Here’s my rule book when dining at one of the swanky sushi restaurants around town:

First, unless you order sashimi, which is the fish without rice, know in advance that sushi can contain more calories than you realize.  It’s a healthy and excellent alternative to fast food or the typical American meal, but be diligent.  Portion yourself as you do with any other meal.  The compacted rice along with its marinade adds up fast in calories, so a little goes a long way.

As a rule, I avoid any rolls that have a creamy sauce in them.  It’s unnecessary, generally mayonnaise based, and adds lots of useless calories.  Of course, any deep fried rolls and appetizers or any rolls that contain deep fried items are off my Skinny list, too.  That’s easy enough.

If I’m still interested in a roll with a creamy sauce, I just ask the server to omit it.  Pretty simple.

Be careful of the sneaky mayonnaise surrounding the crab in some California Rolls, too.  Ask if the crab is dressed in mayo, and if it’s real crab or imitation meat.  Watch out for spicy tuna rolls, too.  Some spicy rolls contain seasonings and hot sauce only, while others marked “spicy” are all about the mayo.  Again, every restaurant is different.

The next hurdle is the rice.  I always order my sushi in whole-grain brown rice.  While white rice isn’t “bad”, it’s higher in calories and contains little nutritional value, so it’s worthless to me.   Learn to love the nutty, substantial taste of brown rice, with its slow-releasing energy, fiber, Vitamin K, Vitamin B6, potassium, magnesium, manganese and zinc.  I stay fuller and calm much longer than with the white stuff.

Watch the rice portion size in the Americanized “inside-out” rolls.  Some orders contain a full cup of rice (!) and close to 1000 mg in sodium, not including any soy sauce that sushi lovers may add.

But I’m not over the sushi hurdle yet, because another shocker is how the rice on the rolls or under the Nigiri sushi is prepared.  The sticky rice is marinated in a vinegar mix, so ask about it.  Processed vinegar marinades for sushi rice often contain high fructose corn syrup, which turns a perfectly healthy meal into an unhealthy Americanized one.  (It’s also a reason to avoid pre-packed sushi rolls in regular grocery stores unless it’s made-to-order on site. The packaged sushi sitting on the shelves are usually dressed with that high fructose corn syrup.  Ugh).

If it doesn’t contain the syrup, it still usually has sugar in the vinegar marinade, so just be aware of it.

Fortunately, most of the condiments at sushi restaurants are very low calorie, especially the Wasabi, Ginger, and soy sauce.  Be careful with the soy sauce as it’s a salt mine.  If you use it, dip the sushi in fish first, not rice first, so you get a taste of it without sopping it all up like a sponge.  In my own Easy Skinny Life, I avoid soy sauce, but that’s just me.  I prefer the ridiculously hot Wasabi to any salty or sugary taste on my sushi.

What to drink?  Order the Green tea.  It has no calories and it’s great for you!

Bottom Line:  My Skinny Pick at Sushi Restaurants: 

• A variety of low calorie, high protein Sashimi.  At only 25 calories per piece, I can eat a lot of it to fill up.
• 1/2 cup of Steamed Edamame for vegetable side dish at around 150 calories. 
• Then, add several interesting Nigiri Sushi or Thin, Regular Rolls made with Brown Rice to keep the rice portion reasonable, but to include whole grains in meal. 
• Skip the inside-out rolls and anything fried, crunchy or creamy sauced. 

Delicious.