Sushi vs sashimi, what's the difference?

Sashimi is sliced raw fish on its own. Sushi is anything built on vinegared rice, whether that rice is topped with fish (nigiri), rolled in nori (maki), or served in a bowl underneath it (donburi). Poke is its own thing again: diced fish tossed in a sauce, with or without rice. Here is how the four actually differ, and where Domo’s menu lands.

The one fact that sorts all of it

Sushi is a rice dish. The word refers to the vinegared rice itself, not the fish. That means:

• Nigiri, a hand-pressed mound of rice with a slice of fish draped over the top, is sushi.
• Maki, rice and filling rolled in nori, is sushi.
• Sashimi, sliced raw fish served with no rice at all, is not sushi. It is its own category.
• Donburi, a rice bowl topped with sashimi or poke, is sushi rice again, just served loose instead of shaped.
• Poke, cubed raw fish tossed in shoyu, spicy mayo or another sauce, is neither. It stands alone as a dish, and Domo serves it both as a bowl over rice and as a salad topping.

Once you have that rule, every item on a sushi counter menu sorts itself.

Nigiri: fish over shaped rice

Nigiri is what most people picture first: a slice of fish laid over a small block of hand-pressed rice. At Domo, nigiri shows up individually in sushi sets like Salmon + Ahi and in the platters, including the Sunrise Platter (32 pieces, four each of ahi, salmon, hamachi, ika, unagi, ebi, masago and ikura) and the Kahala Nigiri Set.

Sashimi: fish, no rice

Sashimi is just the fish, cleanly sliced and plated. No rice, no nori. Domo’s Sashimi Bowl is close to the straight version of this, sliced salmon, ahi and hamachi topped with ikura, with the rice underneath rather than around it. If you want both forms in one order, the Nigiri & Sashimi Trio Platter pairs ahi, salmon and hamachi nigiri with ahi, salmon and hamachi sashimi on the same tray.

Maki: rolled in rice and nori

Maki is the roll: rice and filling wrapped in a sheet of nori, then sliced into rounds. This is the category most people mean when they say “a roll.” Domo’s rolls include the California Roll (8 pieces, crab, avocado, cucumber, no raw fish), the Dragon Roll (shrimp tempura, unagi, avocado, kabayaki sauce), and the Volcano Roll (8 pieces, California roll topped with spicy ahi).

Donburi: sashimi or poke over a bowl of rice

A donburi takes sashimi or poke and serves it loose over a bowl of sushi rice instead of shaping it by hand. On Domo’s menu these live in the poke bowls and donburi category rather than the sushi menu. Ikura & Salmon is a straightforward example, salmon and salmon roe over rice, and the Sashimi Bowl layers salmon, ahi and hamachi sashimi with ikura on top.

Poke: cubed fish, no shaping, no rice required

Poke is Hawaii’s own category, and it predates any of the Japanese forms above showing up on the islands. Fish is cut into cubes, not sliced thin, and tossed in a sauce rather than plated bare. It can be eaten straight, over rice as a bowl, or on greens as a salad. Domo’s poke menu runs from the straightforward Shoyu Poke Bowl to the Mixed Poke Bowl, spicy ahi and onion ahi together, to composed bowls like Domo Premium, ahi, salmon and hamachi with onions, avocado and ikura.

Quick reference

Style	Rice?	Raw fish?	Format
Nigiri	Yes, hand pressed	Usually	Fish draped over a rice mound
Sashimi	No	Usually	Sliced fish alone
Maki	Yes, rolled	Sometimes	Rolled in nori, sliced into rounds
Donburi	Yes, in a bowl	Usually	Sashimi or poke over loose rice
Poke	Optional	Usually	Cubed fish tossed in sauce

What this means when you order

If someone asks for “just the fish,” they want sashimi. If they want the classic hand rolled bite, that’s nigiri. If they are not sure and want variety, a platter that mixes categories, like the Nigiri & Sashimi Trio, removes the guesswork. And if part of your group skips raw fish altogether, that is its own planning question, covered in how to order sushi when some guests do not eat raw fish.

All of it is built from the same standard: Domo uses always sashimi grade fish, whether it ends up sliced bare, pressed onto rice, rolled, or diced into a bowl.

Order it your way

Nigiri, sashimi, rolls, donburi and poke are all on the same menu, and you can mix categories in a single pickup order through ChowNow. Start your order.