Sushi America

The History of Sushi

The original type of sushi was the so called nare-sushi. Fish was salted and wrapped in fermented rice, a traditional lacto-fermented rice dish. Nare-sushi was made of this gutted fish stored in fermented rice for preservation. Nare-sushi was stored for fermentation for a few months then removed. The fermented rice was discarded and the fish was the only part consumed. This early sushi became a great source of protein.

The consumption of Nare-sushi began to expand throughout China, and sometime around the 8th century AD it reached Japan. The Japanese preferred to eat the fish with the rice, called seisei-sushi. During the Muromachi period seisei-sushi was the most popular type of sushi. Seisei-sushi was partly raw fish wrapped in rice, consumed fresh, before it lost its flavor. This new way of consuming fish was no longer a form of preservation but rather a new dish in Japanese cuisine.

During the Edo era (the early modern period, 1603 to 1868 in Japan), a third type of sushi was introduced, haya-sushi. Haya-sushi was assembled so that both rice and fish could be consumed at the same time, and the dish became unique to the Japanese culture. It was the first time that rice was not being used for fermentation. Rice was now mixed with vinegar. Fish, vegetables and dried preserved foods would be added. This type of sushi is still very popular today. Each region utilizes local flavors to produce a variety of sushi that has been passed down for many generations.

When Tokyo was still being called Edo, at the beginning of the 19th century, mobile food stalls became the dominant food service. During this period nigiri-sushi was introduced. Nigiri-sushi is the most common type of sushi in the modern sushi restaurants. It is an oblong mound of rice with a slice of fish draped over it. After the Great Kanto earthquake in 1923, nigiri-sushi chefs lost their jobs and spread throughout Japan and popularised the dish throughout the country.

Today the sushi dish is internationally known as "sushi" (nigirizushi; Kantō variety) is a fast food invented by Hanaya Yohei (華屋与兵衛; 1799 - 1858) at the end of Edo period in today's Tokyo (Edo). People in Tokyo were living in haste even a hundred years ago. The nigirizushi invented by Hanaya was not fermented and could be eaten using the fingers or chopsticks. It was an early form of fast food that could be eaten at a road side or in the theater.

(credit - Wikipedia)

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