History of Sushi
A food for everyone, Sushi has become an international food that almost everyone enjoys. Sushi lovers come in all sizes and ages. Many become fanatics about sushi and can actually tell you when the best time of the year for a particular fish is to be used as sushi. Most of us seem to be relegated to use the plastic cue cards that sit on the sushi bar or table to help us with making our selections.
Memorizing the proper Japanese name, for your next sushi safari, allows you to be part of this continually growing phenomenon. The purpose of this article is to help spread a little knowledge and history about sushi. The romantic version of how sushi began starts with an elderly Japanese couple who left some vinegared rice in a bird nest near their home. Later in the day they returned to find a fish laying in the nest. They took the fish home and ate it for their meal. The wonderfully delicate flavor of the naturally fermented rice was transferred onto the fish. The fish was eaten and the rice thrown away. Thus began one of the oldest Japanese methods of preserving fish. Cleaned, raw fish were placed between layers of salt and rice. Heavy stones were then placed on top. A few weeks later, the stones were replaced with a lighter weight. A few months later the fermented or "cured" fish and rice were ready to eat. Later, Yohei, a Japanese chef of the 1800s, developed what became our modern day style of sushi. Sushi styles Three of the most popular sushi styles found in Canada. are chirashi-sushi, nigiri-sushi, and maki-sushi.
Chirashi-sushi
With chirashi-sushi (scattered sushi), cooked and uncooked seafood and vegetables are placed on top of a bowl of loosely packed sushi rice. Some people consider this more of a sashimi style food. Sashimi is a slightly larger cut of raw fish, without the rice.
Nigiri-sushi
Nigiri-sushi was first made, exclusively in Edo(ancient Tokyo). Edo is pronounced "Way-dough". This was mainly due to Tokyo Bay's abundance of fish and shellfish. Nigiri-sushi is prepared with the seafood resting atop a small pad or bed of seasoned rice. This is the most common form of sushi that the world is familiar with. A variation is "Gunkan" or battleship nigiri. This is created by wrapping seaweed around a bed of rice, thereby making a "cup" to hold fish roe, uni, or other small sushi ingredients.
Maki Sushi
Soy Sauce
Soy Sauce or shoyu ("shoi-you") is used to lightly flavor the sushi by pouring a small amount into a dipping dish or bowl. Mix with Wasabi to your own taste. This is a slightly salty fermented Japanese condiment. You may find Japanese soy sauce tastes quite different than Chinese soy sauce and is much better for sushi. The popularity of soy sauce is not a new interest. Soy sauce was brought from the Far East, by Dutch merchant ships to the dining tables of European nobility in the sixteenth century.
Wasabi
Wasabi, don't let anyone fool you into believing that this small green mound on one of your sushi plates is Japanese guacamole. It's not. Mix a pinch of Wasabi in the soy sauce dish. Dip your sushi into this wonderfully refreshing sauce or simply apply a pinch to your next bite. But don't let your rice get soggy or it will fall apart. Wasabi is a knobby Japanese horseradish. When eaten with sushi, the Wasabi can give your sinuses a pungent and nose-tingling feeling. To make Wasabi, add water to Wasabi powder and mix into a paste. This begins to expose the Wasabi paste to the air or oxygen. This exposure is a process of volatilization, which causes the sinus zing. Powdered or pasted Wasabi is easily found. Fresh Wasabi root is very hard to find and very expensive. In Japan, Wasabi is considered to be a healthy food. Strong in vitamin C and is an antibacterial, similar to ultraviolet light. In the Chugoku district of the main island of Honshu, Japan, there is a whole valley that grows nothing but Wasabi. Upon driving into the valley, the smell of Wasabi becomes quite noticeable.
Gari
Pickled ginger is meant to be eaten between sushi courses to refresh your palate. A piece at a time. Pickled ginger has become highly popular. For a different taste, try placing a piece of ginger on top of your sushi before biting into it.
