Roll vs. Hand Roll: What's the Difference?

Key Difference

Sushi is a cuisine consisting up of cooked vinegared rice that is served with fish meat, vegetables, eggs or other raw seafood. Roll and hand roll are the terms associated with the sushi; both these terms are regarding the type of sushi rolls. The sushi rolls, hand roll, and roll are different from one another regarding serving and shape of these rolls. The roll is called Maki in Japan, while hand roll is referred as Tamaki. After the wrapping is done, the roll is cut down into several pieces. Contrary to this, the sushi wrapped hand roll seems like a cone, and it is in a larger size as compared to the roll. As the hand roll is not cut down into pieces, it is only meant for eating purpose of one person.

Comparison Chart

What is Roll?

The sushi rolls are quite famous across Japan, and now with the passage of time, they are traveling to different parts of the world. The roll, which is also known as Maki in the native area is the type of sushi roll in which after the garnishing and wrapping the sushi, rice and seaweed; it is cut into several pieces.  The wrapping made in this type of roll is cylindrical in shape, and each piece cut is referred as a roll. The cutting into prices, makes it serving for more than one person. Or in other words, we can say that the sushi is the roll to be preferred when you are in gathering and in the mood to share your plate or meal with others. Other than the sushi rolls, other famous types of rolls are egg roll and spring roll.  Spring Roll is the Chinese origin snack of a cylindrical shape that is usually filled with vegetables and have a thin coating made up of rice flour. On the other hand, Egg Roll is an American-Chinese snack that consists of diced meat or prawns and shredded vegetables wrapped in the flour dough made with egg and is even dipped in egg before frying.

What is Hand Roll?

The hand roll is the roll meant for eating purpose for only one person; the cylindrical or long tube shape of the hand roll makes it longer in size as compared to the roll. One can’t differentiate it between the roll and hand roll by the ingredients; the shape and serving make the most of the difference between both the sushi rolls. The hand roll is also called the Tamaki in the Japan. Many of the people prefer eating the hand roll when they want to eat the larger quantity sushi roll and doesn’t want it to share it with others. Sushi is a cuisine consisting up of cooked vinegared rice that is served with fish meat, vegetables, eggs or other raw seafood. Mainly there is five type of sushi, out of which Nigiri is one of the most prominent types of sushi in which slices of raw fish are pressed over vinegared rice.

Roll vs. Hand Roll

• The roll is called Maki in Japan, while hand roll is referred as Tamaki.
• After the wrapping is done, the roll is cut down into several pieces. Contrary to this, the sushi wrapped hand roll seems like a cone, and it is in a larger size as compared to the roll.
• The hand roll is the cone shape while the roll is in the cylindrical or tubular shape, which is divided or cut down into several pieces.
• The hand roll when one wants to eat the larger quantity sushi roll and doesn’t want it to share it with others. Conversely, the roll is preferred when you are in gathering and in the mood to share your plate or meal with others.

Explanatory Video