The sushi roll with seaweed on the outside and rice inside is called makizushi, also commonly shortened to maki. It is made by spreading vinegared rice and fillings over a sheet of nori, then rolling the layers into a cylinder and slicing it into rounds. The filling may include fish, seafood, cucumber, pickled vegetables, egg, or other ingredients.
Makizushi is a broad category rather than one single filling. Hosomaki are thin rolls with a limited filling, futomaki are thicker rolls with several ingredients, and tekkamaki is a tuna-filled example. The word makizushi combines maki, meaning “roll,” with sushi.
A frequent source of confusion is uramaki, or inside-out sushi. In uramaki, the rice is on the outside and the nori surrounds the filling inside. Temaki is also rolled sushi, but it forms a hand-rolled cone rather than a sliced cylinder. Sashimi is not a roll at all and contains no sushi rice.