All About Sushi

Sushi has become a popular dish all around the world and you can find sushi restaurants in Europe and North America, but there is something special about having a sushi dinner in Japan, the country where sushi was invented.

Originally a dish that involved fermenting fish in vinegar (making the fish sour) before eating it, sushi as we know it today was only invented in the early 1800's as a form of fast food.  Japanese people wanted a food that could be eaten quickly on the street or in a theatre, and that is when raw fish started being used instead of fermented fish.

A chef in Tokyo hard at work preparing a sushi set.

Sushi can come in many different variations.  Nigirizushi is when the raw fish lies across a ball of rice, makizushi is when a cylinder wrapped in nori (a sea algae) is cut into small discs of sushi yumminess and another popular kind of sushi is sashimi, when the raw fish is served as is with no rice.

Done all my sushi, I am using my chopsticks to dig for more meat
in these lobster heads from my lobster miso soup.

Unlike sashimi, most sushi is meant to be eaten with your hands.  Made to be bite sized by the sushi chef, you carefully pick up the nigirizushi, lightly dunk it in soy sauce fish side down, and then pop the whole thing into your mouth.  Chopsticks can be used to eat the pickled ginger provided to clear your palate and help you digest the meal, but trust me you are allowed to use your fingers to eat the rest of it.  Now when do you ever hear that?