Sushi
 Mixed sushi platter | |
| Alternative names | 寿司 |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | Japan |
| Region or state | East Asia |
| Main ingredients |
|
Sushi (すし, 寿司, 鮨, 鮓; pronounced [sɯɕiꜜ] or [sɯꜜɕi] ⓘ) is a traditional Japanese dish made with vinegared rice (鮨飯, sushi-meshi), typically seasoned with sugar and salt, and combined with a variety of ingredients (ねた, neta), such as seafood, vegetables, or meat; raw seafood is the most common, although some may be cooked. While sushi has numerous styles and presentations, the current defining component is the vinegared rice, also known as shari (しゃり), or sumeshi (酢飯).[1]
The modern form of sushi is believed to have been created by Hanaya Yohei, who invented nigiri-zushi, the most commonly recognized type today, in which seafood is placed on hand-pressed, vinegared rice. This innovation occurred around 1824 in the Edo period (1603–1867). It was the fast food of the chōnin class in the Edo period.[2][3][4]
Sushi is traditionally made with medium-grain white rice, although it can also be prepared with brown rice or short-grain rice. It is commonly prepared with seafood, such as squid, eel, yellowtail, salmon, tuna, or imitation crab meat (surimi). Certain types of sushi are vegetarian. It is often served with pickled ginger (gari), wasabi, and soy sauce. Daikon radish or pickled daikon (takuan) are popular garnishes for the dish.
Sushi is sometimes confused with sashimi, a dish that consists of thinly sliced raw fish or occasionally meat, without sushi rice.[5] Today, sushi is considered one of the most popular dishes in the world.[6][7]
Etymology
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The word sushi (寿司; すし) is from Japanese Kanji 鮨.[8] 寿司 is ateji.[9]
History
[edit]Narezushi
[edit]
A dish known as narezushi (馴れ寿司, 熟寿司), "matured fish", stored in fermented rice for possibly months at a time, has been cited as one of the early influences for the Japanese practice of applying rice on raw fish. The fish was fermented with rice vinegar, salt, and rice, after which the rice was discarded.[10] Narezushi is also called honnare, meaning "fully fermented", as opposed to namanare, meaning "partially fermented", a type of sushi that appeared in the Muromachi period.[11]
Fermented fish using rice, such as narezushi, originated in Southeast Asia, where it was made to preserve freshwater fish, possibly in the Mekong River basin, which is now Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam, and in the Irrawaddy River basin, which is now Myanmar.[11] The first mention of a narezushi-like food is in a Chinese dictionary thought to be from the fourth century, in this instance referring to salted fish that had been placed in cooked or steamed rice, which caused it to undergo a fermentation process via lactic acid.[12][13] Fermentation methods following similar logic in other Asian rice cultures include burong isda, balao-balao, and tinapayan of the Philippines; pekasam of Indonesia and Malaysia; padaek (ປາແດກ) of Laos; pla ra (ปลาร้า) of Thailand; sikhae (식해) of Korea; and mắm of Vietnam.[10][14][15][16]
The lacto-fermentation of the rice prevents the fish from spoiling. When wet-field rice cultivation was introduced during the Yayoi period, lakes and rivers would flood during the rainy season and fish would get caught in the rice paddy fields. Pickling was a way to preserve the excess fish and guarantee food for the following months, and narezushi became an important source of protein for Japanese consumers. The term sushi literally means "sour-tasting", as the overall dish has a sour and umami or savory taste. The term comes from an antiquated し shi terminal-form conjugation, no longer used in other contexts, of the adjectival verb sui (酸い, "to be sour"),[17] resulting in the term sushi (酸し).[18] Narezushi still exists as a regional specialty, notably as funa-zushi from Shiga Prefecture.[19]
In the Yōrō Code (養老律令, Yōrō-ritsuryō) of 718, the characters for "鮨" and "鮓" are written as a tribute to the Japanese imperial court, and although there are various theories as to what exactly this food was, it is possible that it referred to narezushi.[20]
Namanare
[edit]Until the early 19th century, sushi slowly changed with Japanese cuisine. The Japanese started eating three meals a day, rice was boiled instead of steamed, and of large importance was the development of rice vinegar.[21]
During the Muromachi period (1336–1573), the Japanese invented a style of sushi called namanare or namanari (生成, なまなれ, なまなり), which means "partially fermented". The fermentation period of namanare was shorter than that of the earlier narezushi, and the rice used for fermentation was also eaten with the fish. In other words, with the invention of namanare, sushi changed from a preserved fish food to a food where fish and rice are eaten together. After the appearance of namanare, sake and sake lees were used to shorten fermentation, and vinegar was used in the Edo period.[11]
Hayazushi
[edit]
During the Edo period (1603–1867), a third type of sushi, haya-zushi (早寿司, 早ずし, "fast sushi"), was developed. Haya-zushi differed from earlier sushi in that instead of lactic fermentation of rice, vinegar, a fermented food, was mixed with rice to give it a sour taste so that it could be eaten at the same time as the fish. Sushi had evolved with a focus on shortening the fermentation period, but with the invention of haya-zushi, which is simply mixed with vinegar, the fermentation process was eliminated and sushi became a fast food. Many types of sushi known in the world today, such as chirashizushi (散らし寿司, "scattered sushi"), inarizushi (稲荷寿司, "Inari sushi"), makizushi (巻寿司, "rolled sushi"), and nigirizushi (握り寿司, "hand-pressed sushi"), were invented during this period, and they are a type of haya-zushi. Each region utilizes local flavors to produce a variety of sushi that has been passed down for many generations. A 1689 cookbook describes haya-zushi, and a 1728 cookbook describes pouring vinegar over hako-zushi (箱ずし, "box sushi") (square sushi made by filling a wooden frame with rice).[11]
Today's style of nigirizushi (握り寿司, "hand-pressed sushi"), consisting of an oblong mound of rice with a slice of fish draped over it, became popular in Edo (contemporary Tokyo) in the 1820s or 1830s. One common story of the origin of nigirizushi is of the chef Hanaya Yohei (1799–1858), who invented or perfected the technique in 1824 at his shop in Ryōgoku.[19] The nigirizushi of this period was somewhat different from modern nigirizushi. The sushi rice of this period was about three times the size of today's nigirizushi. The amount of vinegar used was half that of today's sushi, and the type of vinegar developed during this period, called aka-su (赤酢, "red vinegar"), was made by fermenting sake lees. They also used slightly more salt than in modern times instead of sugar. Seafood served over rice was prepared in a variety of ways. This red vinegar was developed by Nakano Matazaemon (中野 又佐衛門), who is the founder of Mizkan, a company that still develops and sells vinegar and other seasonings today.[11]
The dish was originally termed Edomae zushi as it used freshly caught fish from the Edo-mae (Edo or Tokyo Bay); the term Edomae nigirizushi is still used today as a by-word for quality sushi, regardless of its ingredients' origins.[22][23]
Conveyor belt sushi
[edit]
In 1958, Yoshiaki Shiraishi opened the first conveyor belt sushi restaurant (回転寿司, kaiten-zushi) named "Genroku Zushi" in Higashi-Osaka. Conveyor belt sushi is a casual and affordable type of sushi restaurant.[24]
Conveyor belts are typically installed along tables or counters in the restaurant and are used to carry plates of sushi past diners, who can choose to take whatever they want.[24] Generally, the bill is based on the number of sushi plates, with different colors representing a particular price.[25][26][27]
When Genroku Sushi opened a restaurant at the Japan World Exposition, Osaka, 1970, it won an award at the expo, and conveyor belt sushi restaurants became known throughout Japan. In 1973, an automatic tea dispenser was developed, which is now used in conveyor belt sushi restaurants today. When the patent for conveyor belt sushi restaurants expired, a chain of conveyor belt sushi restaurants was established, spreading conveyor belt sushi throughout Japan and further popularizing and lowering the price of sushi. By 2021, the conveyor belt sushi market had grown to 700 billion yen and spread outside Japan.[25][26][27]
Sushi in English
[edit]The earliest written mention of sushi in English described in the Oxford English Dictionary is in an 1893 book, A Japanese Interior, where it mentions sushi as "a roll of cold rice with fish, sea-weed, or some other flavoring".[28][29] There is an earlier mention of sushi in James Hepburn's Japanese–English dictionary from 1873,[30] and an 1879 article on Japanese cookery in the journal Notes and Queries.[31] Despite common misconception among English speakers, sushi does not mean "raw seafood".[32]
Types
[edit]
The common ingredient in all types of sushi is vinegared sushi rice. Fillings, toppings, condiments, and preparation vary widely.[33]
Due to rendaku consonant mutation, sushi is pronounced with zu instead of su when a prefix is attached, as in nigirizushi.
Chirashizushi
[edit]
Chirashizushi (ちらし寿司, "scattered sushi"; also referred to as barazushi) serves the rice in a bowl and tops it with a variety of raw fish and vegetable garnishes. It is popular because it is filling, fast, and easy to make.[34] It is eaten annually on Hinamatsuri in March and Children's Day in May.
- Edomae chirashizushi (Edo-style scattered sushi) is served with uncooked ingredients in an artful arrangement.
- Gomokuzushi (Kansai-style sushi) consists of cooked or uncooked ingredients mixed in the body of rice.
- Sake-zushi (Kyushu-style sushi) uses rice wine over vinegar in preparing the rice and is topped with shrimp, sea bream, octopus, shiitake mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and shredded omelette.
Inarizushi
[edit]
Inarizushi (稲荷寿司) is a pouch of fried tofu typically filled with sushi rice alone. According to Shinto lore, inarizushi is named after the god Inari. Foxes, messengers of Inari, are believed to have a fondness for fried tofu and in some regions an Inari-zushi roll has pointed corners that resemble fox ears, thus reinforcing the association.[35] The shape of Inarizushi varies by region. Inarizushi usually has a rectangular shape in Kantō region and a triangle shape in the Kansai region.[36]
Regional variations include pouches made from a thin omelette (帛紗寿司, fukusa-zushi or 茶巾寿司, chakin-zushi), instead of fried tofu. It should not be confused with inari maki, a sushi roll filled with seasoned fried tofu.[37][38]
Cone sushi is a variant of inarizushi originating in Hawaii that may include green beans, carrots, gobo, or poke along with rice, wrapped in a triangular abura-age piece. It is often sold in okazu-ya (Japanese delis) and as a component of bento boxes.[39][40]
Makizushi
[edit]Makizushi (巻き寿司, "rolled sushi"), norimaki (海苔巻き, "nori roll"; used generically for other dishes as well) or makimono (巻物, "variety of rolls") is a cylindrical piece formed with the help of a mat known as a makisu (巻き簾). Makizushi is generally wrapped in nori (seaweed) but is occasionally wrapped in a thin omelette, soy paper, cucumber, or shiso (perilla) leaves. Makizushi is often cut into six or eight pieces, constituting a single roll order. Short-grain white rice is usually used, although short-grain brown rice, like olive oil on nori, is now becoming more widespread among the health-conscious. Rarely, sweet rice is mixed in makizushi rice.
Nowadays, the rice in makizushi can be many kinds of black rice, boiled rice, and cereals. Besides the common ingredients listed above, some varieties may include cheese, spicy cooked squid, yakiniku, kamaboko, lunch meat, sausage, bacon or spicy tuna. The nori may be brushed with sesame oil or sprinkled with sesame seeds. In a variation, sliced pieces of makizushi may be lightly fried with egg coating.
Below are some common types of makizushi, but many other kinds exist.
- Futomaki (太巻, "thick, large, or fat rolls") is a large, cylindrical style of sushi, usually with nori on the outside.