In Japanese cuisine, sushi is a food made of vinegared rice combined with various toppings or fillings, especially seafood, but also vegetables, mushrooms, eggs, or meat. Most, but not all, fish used in sushi is raw; other ingredients may be cooked, blanched, sauteed, or marinated.

Outside of Japan, sushi is often misunderstood to mean only clumps of rice topped with raw fish or even the raw fish by itself. It is also misunderstood to refer to other raw-seafood dishes, such as sashimi (sushi and sashimi are considered distinct in Japan).