Color me unsophisticated but I prefer my fish cooked.  I like to consider myself on a rung or two above the sea lion on the consideration of the "what's for dinner" scale.

No, sushi and I are not old friends.  But millions love it and there is a new survey that tracks the favorite sushi in each state.

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Risk vs Reward

To be honest, part of me is concerned about parasites and mercury, though experts downplay parasites in raw fish.  Web-MD has a very colorful and fact-based breakdown of some 15 different types of sushi with recommendations for consumption.  It is a site worth checking out.

Let's balance my personal concerns with this from Men's Health::

The bottom line is that, yes, sushi is healthy. It contains high-quality protein and omega-3 fatty acids from fish, plus a great combination of vitamins and minerals. White rice provides carbs for energy, and won’t raise your blood sugar too high because it’s combined with fat and protein. To make sushi a balanced meal, add a side of vegetables or a seaweed salad for fiber and a nutrient boost.

So Who From Where Likes Which

So let's say we sidestep the parasites and we dodge the mercury poisoning and we are now a go for every otter's favorite breakfast.

What do we need to know?

Folks at the Shane Co used a variety of sources to compile a list of the 27 most popular sushi rolls followed by using Google Trends to cross-analyze the search interest of each roll across the U.S. over the past five years. (Whew!)  Resulting in a list of the Most Popular Sushi Roll in Every U.S. State.

Yum?

There Is An Overwhelming Favorite

21 states agree that the California roll is America's favorite.

Each of the three states that are generally considered to make up the Pacific Northwest has a sushi favorite of its own.

How Does Oregon Roll

Oregon is down with the veggie roll. The nation's second favorite.  Could there be a worse choice for me?  Raw fish AND veggies?  I would rather eat the sea lion and floss with the otter.

For the seafood-shy or vegetarians, veggie rolls (with things like avocado, cucumber, carrot, mushroom, onion, asparagus, and tofu) are healthy and readily available in supermarkets and sushi restaurants. Pickled ginger, by the way, is a common condiment served with sushi. It’s meant to cleanse the palate between bites.

 

California Dreamin' On An Idaho Day

How about Idaho. Surely they can do better than Oregon!  Maybe. Oregon sells out to its neighbor to the south, conforms with the pack, and goes for the California roll.

 the California roll includes rice, nori, avocado, cucumber, and “crab” (usually surimi, or imitation crab, made of pollock, egg whites, sugar, and other stuff). It’s sometimes served as uramaki (with the rice on the outside and the nori and ingredients on the inside). A California roll is generally OK if you keep away from high-calorie, fatty, mayonnaise-like dips and sauces.

 

The Evergreen State Is Ever Obvious

Washingtonians take a slightly different approach.  The salmon, that so many of us love to bake or grill, is instead taken from the fishing net and served up raw in the Salmon roll.

One of the foods highest in omega-3 fatty acids, salmon is a great choice on top of a bit of hand-pressed rice (nigiri sushi), in a roll (maki sushi), or many other ways. You have to watch the sauces and stuff, though. They can hike the fat and calories.

EvenTexas, cattle raising, steak eating Texas has a sushi favorite...and it doesn't include the seahorse.  The Cowboy Crowd prefers the avocado roll, which — you might have guessed  — contains avocado, seaweed, and rice...but...no fish!

So where's the best place in Yakima to get Sushi?  Our pal Reesha from MEGA993 has that answered for you here...check it out..

I'll just be over there...in the corner...with my box of Mrs. Paul's fish stix!

LOOK: Food history from the year you were born

From product innovations to major recalls, Stacker researched what happened in food history every year since 1921, according to news and government sources.
 

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