In Japanese cuisine, sushi (寿司, 鮨, 鮓, sushi?) is a food made of vinegared rice, usually topped with other ingredients including fish (cooked or uncooked) and vegetables. Sushi as an English word has come to refer to a complete dish with rice and toppings; this is the sense used in this article. The original word Japanese: 寿司 sushi, written in kanji, means "snack" and refers to the rice, but not fish or other toppings. Outside of Japan, sushi is sometimes misunderstood to mean the raw fish by itself, or even any fresh raw-seafood dishes.In Japan, sliced raw fish alone is called sashimi and is distinct from sushi.There are various types of sushi: sushi served rolled inside nori (dried and pressed layer sheets of seaweed or alga) called makizushi (巻き) or rolls; sushi made with toppings laid with hand-formed clumps of rice called nigirizushi (にぎり); toppings stuffed into a small pouch of fried tofu called inarizushi; and toppings served scattered over a bowl of sushi rice called chirashi-zushi (ちらし).
History
The basic idea in the preparation of sushi is the preservation and fermentation of fish with salt and rice, a process that has been traced back to China, and Southeast Asia where fish and rice fermentation dishes still exist today. The science behind the fermentation of fish in rice is that the vinegar produced from the fermenting rice breaks the fish down into amino acids. This results into one of the five basic tastes, called umami in Japanese. The oldest form of sushi in Japan, Narezushi still very closely resembles this process. In Japan, Narezushi evolved into Oshizushi and ultimately Edomae nigirizushi, which is what the world today knows as "sushi".Modern Japanese sushi has little resemblance to the traditional lacto-fermented rice dish. Originally, when the fermented fish was taken out of the rice, only the fish was consumed and the fermented rice was discarded. The strong-tasting and -smelling funazushi, a kind of narezushi made near Lake Biwa in Japan, resembles the traditional fermented dish.Beginning in the Muromachi period (1336–1573) of Japan, vinegar was added to the mixture for better taste and for preservation. The vinegar accentuated the rice's sourness, and was known to increase its life span, allowing the fermentation process to be shortened and eventually abandoned. In the following centuries, sushi in Osaka evolved into oshi-zushi, the seafood and the rice were pressed using wooden (usually bamboo) molds. By the mid 18th century, this form of sushi had reached Edo (contemporary Tokyo). The contemporary version, internationally known as "sushi," was invented by Hanaya Yohei (華屋与兵衛; 1799–1858) at the end of Edo period in Edo. The sushi invented by Hanaya was an early form of fast food that was not fermented, (therefore prepared quickly) and could be eaten with one's hands roadside or in a theatre. Originally, this sushi was known as Edomae zushi, because it used freshly-caught fish in the Edo-mae (Edo Bay or Tokyo Bay). Though the fish used in modern sushi no longer usually come from Tokyo bay, it is still formally known as Edomae nigirizushi.
Types of sushi
The common ingredient across all the different kinds of sushi is sushi rice (known as shari in Japanese). The variety in sushi arises from the different fillings and toppings, condiments, and the way these ingredients are put together. The same ingredients may be assembled in a traditional or a contemporary way, creating a very different final result.Nigiri-zushi
Nigiri-zushi (握り寿司, lit. hand-formed sushi). The most typical form of sushi in restaurants. It consists of an oblong mound of sushi rice that is pressed between the palms of the hands, with a speck of wasabi and a slice of topping called neta draped over it. This is possibly bound with a thin band of nori, and is often served in pairs.Gunkan-maki (軍艦巻, lit. warship roll). A special type of nigiri-zushi: an oval, hand-formed clump of sushi rice that has a strip of "nori" wrapped around its perimeter to form a vessel that is filled in with topping(s). The topping is typically some soft, loose or fine-chopped ingredient that requires the confinement of nori such as roe, natto, oysters, and quail eggs. Gunkan-maki was invented at the Ginza Kyubey (Kubei) restaurant in 1931;[6][7] its invention significantly expanded the repertoire of soft toppings used in sushi.
