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Sushi
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In Japanese cuisine, is vinegared rice, usually topped with other ingredients, including fish dishes. In Japan, sliced raw fish alone is called sashimi and is distinct from sushi, as sashimi is the raw fish component, not the rice component. The word sushi itself comes from an archaic grammatical form of a word that is no longer used in other contexts; literally, "sushi" means "it's sour".
There are various types of sushi: sushi served rolled inside nori (dried and pressed layer sheets of seaweed or algae) called makizushi or rolls; sushi made with toppings laid with hand-formed clumps of rice called nigirizushi; toppings stuffed into a small pouch of fried tofu called inarizushi; and toppings served scattered over a bowl of sushi rice called chirashi-zushi.
History
The main 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 Southeast Asia where fish and rice fermentation dishes still exist today.
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Encyclopedia
In Japanese cuisine, is vinegared rice, usually topped with other ingredients, including fish dishes. In Japan, sliced raw fish alone is called sashimi and is distinct from sushi, as sashimi is the raw fish component, not the rice component. The word sushi itself comes from an archaic grammatical form of a word that is no longer used in other contexts; literally, "sushi" means "it's sour".
There are various types of sushi: sushi served rolled inside nori (dried and pressed layer sheets of seaweed or algae) called makizushi or rolls; sushi made with toppings laid with hand-formed clumps of rice called nigirizushi; toppings stuffed into a small pouch of fried tofu called inarizushi; and toppings served scattered over a bowl of sushi rice called chirashi-zushi.
History
The main 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 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 in 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 (?????; 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 (it was 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 comes 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. 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.
Nigirizushi
- Nigirizushi (????, lit. hand-formed sushi). This consists of an oblong mound of sushi rice that is pressed between the palms of the hands, sometimes with a speck of wasabi, and a slice of fish called neta draped over it. Certain fish are typically bound to the rice with a thin strip of nori, most commonly tako (octopus), unagi (freshwater eel), anago (sea eel), ika (squid), and tamago (sweet egg). Nigiri is generally served in pairs.
- Gunkan-maki (???, 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 with some soft, loose or fine-chopped ingredient that requires the confinement of nori such as roe, natto, oysters, sea urchin, corn with mayonnaise, and quail eggs.Gunkan-maki was invented at the Ginza Kyubey (Kubei) restaurant in 1931; its invention significantly expanded the repertoire of soft toppings used in sushi.
- Temarizushi (?????, lit. ball sushi). It is a ball-shaped sushi made by pressing rice and fish into a ball-shaped form by hand using a plastic wrap. They are quite easy to make and thus a good starting point for beginners.
Maki-zushi (roll)
- Makizushi (????, lit. rolled sushi). A cylindrical piece, formed with the help of a bamboo mat, called a makisu. Makizushi is generally wrapped in nori, but can occasionally be found wrapped in a thin omelette, soy paper, cucumber, or parsley. Makizushi is usually cut into six or eight pieces, which constitutes a single roll order. Below are some common types of makizushi, but many other kinds exist.
- Futomaki (???, lit. large or fat rolls). A large cylindrical piece, with nori on the outside. A typical futomaki is three or four centimeters (1.5 in) in diameter. They are often made with two or three fillings that are chosen for their complementary tastes and colors. During the Setsubun festival, it is traditional in Kansai to eat uncut futomaki in its cylindrical form. Futomaki is generally vegetarian, but may include toppings such as tiny fish eggs.
- Hosomaki (???, lit. thin rolls). A small cylindrical piece, with the nori on the outside. A typical hosomaki has a diameter of about two centimeters (0.75 in). They generally contain only one filling, often tuna, cucumber, kanpyo, thinly sliced carrots, or, more recently, avocado.
- Kappamaki, a kind of Hosomaki filled with cucumber, is named after the Japanese legendary water imp fond of cucumbers called the kappa. Traditionally, Kappamaki is consumed to clear the palate between eating raw fish and other kinds of food, so that the flavors of the fish are distinct from the tastes of other foods.
- Tekkamaki is a kind of Hosomaki filled with raw tuna. Although some believe that the name "Tekka", meaning 'red hot iron', alludes to the color of the tuna flesh, it actually originated as a quick snack to eat in gambling dens called "Tekkaba", much like the sandwich.
- Negitoromaki is a kind of Hosomaki filled with scallion and chopped tuna. Fatty tuna is often used in this style.
- Tsunamayomaki is a kind of Hosomaki filled with canned tuna tossed with mayonnaise.
- Temaki (???, lit. hand rolls). A large cone-shaped piece of nori on the outside and the ingredients spilling out the wide end. A typical temaki is about ten centimeters (4 in) long, and is eaten with fingers because it is too awkward to pick it up with chopsticks. For optimal taste and texture, Temaki must be eaten quickly after being made because the nori cone soon absorbs moisture from the filling and loses its crispness and becomes somewhat difficult to bite.
- Uramaki (???, lit. inside-out rolls). A medium-sized cylindrical piece, with two or more fillings. Uramaki differs from other maki because the rice is on the outside and the nori inside. The filling is in the center surrounded by nori, then a layer of rice, and an outer coating of some other ingredients such as roe or toasted sesame seeds. It can be made with different fillings such as tuna, crab meat, avocado, mayonnaise, cucumber, carrots.
Oshizushi
- Oshizushi (????, lit. pressed sushi). A block-shaped piece formed using a wooden mold, called an oshibako. The chef lines the bottom of the oshibako with the toppings, covers them with sushi rice, and then presses the lid of the mold down to create a compact, rectilinear block. The block is removed from the mold and then cut into bite-sized pieces. This variety originates from the Kansai Region and is a favourite and specialty of Osaka.
Inari-zushi
- Inari-zushi (????, stuffed sushi). A pouch of fried tofu filled with usually just sushi rice. It is named after the Shinto god Inari, who is believed to have a fondness for fried tofu. The pouch is normally fashioned as deep-fried tofu (???, abura age). Regional variations include pouches are made of a thin omelet (????, fukusa-zushi or ????, chakin-zushi) or dried gourd shavings (??, kanpyo). It should not be confused with inari maki, which is a roll filled with flavored fried tofu. A very large version, sweeter than normal and often containing bits of carrot, is popular in Hawaii, where it is called "cone sushi."
Chirashizushi
- Chirashizushi (?????, lit. scattered sushi). A bowl of sushi rice with other ingredients mixed in (also refers to barazushi). It is commonly eaten in Japan because it is filling, fast and easy to make. Chirashizushi most often varies regionally because it is eaten annually as a part of the Doll Festival, celebrated only during March in Japan. Chirashizushi is sometimes interesting because the ingredients are often chef's choice.
- Edomae chirashizushi (Edo-style scattered sushi) is an uncooked ingredient that is arranged artfully on top of the sushi rice in a bowl.
- Gomokuzushi (Kansai-style sushi). Cooked or uncooked ingredients mixed in the body of rice in a bowl.
Narezushi (old style fermented sushi)
- Narezushi (????, lit. matured sushi) is an older form of sushi. Skinned and gutted fish are stuffed with salt, placed in a wooden barrel, doused with salt again, (sometimes covered with freshly cooked rice combined with salt and it is left to ferment for anywhere from six months to a year then is taken out the fish is cleaned and buried in salt and cooked rice once more and left to ferment for up to another year before it is deemed edible) and then weighed down with a heavy tsukemonoishi (pickling stone). They are supposedly salted for ten days to a month, then placed in water for 15 minutes to an hour. They are then placed in another barrel, sandwiched, and layered with cooled steamed rice and fish. Then the mixture is again partially sealed with otoshibuta and a pickling stone. As days pass, water seeps out, which must be removed. Six months later, this funazushi can be eaten, and remains edible for another six months or more.
- Funazushi is a dish in Japanese cooking, which involves anaerobic lacto-fermentation of fresh water fish, funa (?, crucian carp). The dish is famous as a regional dish from Shiga Prefecture, It is considered to be a chinmi, a delicacy in Japanese cooking.
Western Sushi
The types of sushi rolls typically found in the west are rarely found in Japan and are typically thought of as an invention to suit the American palate. The increasing popularity of sushi in North America, as well as around the world, was fueled by the invention of the California roll and has resulted in numerous regional off-shoots being created.
The following is a list of typical ingredients in popular rolls.
- The California roll consists of avocado, kani kama (imitation crab stick), and cucumber, often made uramaki (with rice on the outside, nori on the inside)
- The caterpillar roll generally includes avocado, unagi, kani kama, and cucumber.
- The dynamite roll includes yellowtail (hamachi), and fillings such as bean sprouts, carrots, chili and spicy mayo.
- The rainbow roll is typically a California roll topped with several various sashimi.
- The spider roll includes fried soft shell crab and other fillings such as cucumber, avocado, daikon sprouts or lettuce, roe, and spicy mayonnaise.
- A Philadelphia roll almost always consists of smoked salmon, cream cheese, cucumber, and/or onion.
- A BC roll has grilled salmon skin with sweet sauce and cucumber. It is named after British Columbia for its famous wild Pacific salmon.
- A crunchy roll is typically a California roll with shrimp tempura wrapped inside with the other ingredients, with the outside of the roll coated with fried tempura batter crumbs. It is often topped with sweet eel sauce or chili sauce.
- Other rolls may include scallops, spicy tuna, beef or chicken or teriyaki roll, okra, vegetables, and cheese. Sushi rolls can also be made with Brown rice and black rice. These have also appeared in Japanese cuisine.
Ingredients
All sushi has a base of specially prepared rice, and complemented with other ingredients.
Sushi rice
Sushi is made with white, short-grained, Japanese rice mixed with a dressing made of rice vinegar, sugar, salt, and occasionally kombu and sake. It is usually cooled to room temperature before being used for a filling in a sushi. In some fusion cuisine restaurants, short grain brown rice and wild rice are also used.
Sushi rice (sushi-meshi) is prepared with short-grain Japanese rice, which has a consistency that differs from long-grain strains such as those from India. The essential quality is its stickiness. Rice that is too sticky has a mushy texture; if not sticky enough, it feels dry. Freshly harvested rice (shinmai) typically has too much water, and requires extra time to drain the rice cooker after washing.
There are regional variations in sushi rice and, of course, individual chefs have their individual methods. Most of the variations are in the rice vinegar dressing: the Tokyo version of the dressing commonly uses more salt; in Osaka, the dressing has more sugar.
Nori
The seaweed wrappers used in maki and temaki are called nori. Nori is an alga, traditionally cultivated into the harbors of Japan. Originally, algae was scraped from dock pilings, rolled out into thin, edible sheets, and dried in the sun, in a process similar to making rice paper. Whereas in Japan Nori may never be toasted before being used in food, many brands found in the U.S. reach drying temperatures above 108 degrees Fahrenheit.
Today, the commercial product is farmed, produced, toasted, packaged, and sold in standard-size sheets in about 18 cm by 21 cm (7 in by 8 in). Higher quality nori is thick, smooth, shiny, green, and has no holes. When stored for several months, nori sheets can change color to dark green-brownish.
Nori by itself is an edible snack and is available with salt or flavored with teriyaki sauce. The flavored variety, however, tends to be of lesser quality and is not suitable for sushi.
Omelette
When making fukusazushi, a paper-thin omelet may replace a sheet of nori as the wrapping. The omelet is traditionally made on a rectangular omelet pan (makiyakinabe), and used to form the pouch for the rice and fillings.
Toppings and fillings
- For culinary, sanitary, and aesthetic reasons, fish eaten raw must be fresher and of higher quality than fish which is cooked.
- Professional sushi chefs are trained to recognize good fish. Important attributes include smells, colour, firmness, and being free of obvious parasites that normal commercial inspection do not detect (many go undetected).
- Commonly-used fish are tuna (maguro, chutoro, shiro-maguro, toro), Japanese amberjack, yellowtail (hamachi), snapper (kurodai), conger (hamo), mackerel (saba), salmon (sake), and eel (anago and unagi). The most valued sushi ingredient is toro, the fatty cut of tuna. This comes in a variety of otoro (often from the bluefin species of tuna) and chutoro, meaning middle toro, implying that it is halfway into the fattiness between toro and regular red tuna (maguro).
- Aburi style refers to nigiri sushi where the fish is partially grilled (topside) and partially raw. Most nigiri sushi will be completely raw.
- A common misconception of yellowtail is that it is a member of the tuna family. Yellowfin tuna is a type of tuna; yellowtail (hamachi) is actually a member of the jack family.
- Other seafoods such as squid (ika), octopus (tako), shrimp (ebi and amaebi), clam (mirugai, aoyagi and akagi), fish roe (ikura, masago, kazunoko and tobiko), sea urchin (uni), crab (kani), and various kinds of shellfish (abalone, prawn, scallop) are the most popular seafoods in sushi. Oysters, however, are not typically put in sushi because the taste is not thought to go well with the rice. However, some sushi restaurants in New Orleans are known to serve Fried Oyster Rolls and Crawfish rolls. Kani kama, or imitation crab stick, is a common ingredient used by many sushi bars in place of real snow crab. Kani kama is almost always the main ingredient of California rolls, and is a common filler in crab mix.
* Vegetables
- Pickled daikon radish (takuan) in shinko maki, pickled vegetables (tsukemono), fermented soybeans (natto) in natto maki, avocado, cucumber in kappa maki, asparagus, yam, pickled ume (umeboshi), gourd (kanpyo), burdock (gobo), and sweet corn may be mixed with mayonnaise.
- Beef, ham, spam, sausage, and horse meat are often lightly cooked.
- Note: It is a common misconception, by those outside of Hawaii, that in Hawaii fried Spam is a popular local variation for sushi. In reality, Spam musubi differs from sushi in that its rice lacks the vinegar required to classify it. Spam musubi is correctly classified as onigiri.
- Tofu and eggs (in the form of slightly sweet, layered omelet called tamagoyaki and raw quail eggs ride as a gunkan-maki topping) are common.
Condiments
- The common name for soy sauce. In sushi restaurants, it may also be referred to as murasaki (lit. "purple").
- A piquant paste made from the grated root of the wasabi plant. Real wasabi (hon-wasabi) is Wasabi japonica. Hon-wasabi has anti-microbial properties and may reduce the risk of food poisoning. The traditional grating tool for wasabi is a sharkskin grater or samegawa oroshi.
- An imitation wasabi (seiyo-wasabi), made from horseradish and mustard powder and dyed green is common. It is found at lower-end kaiten zushi restaurants, in bento box sushi and at most restaurants outside of Japan. If it is manufactured in Japan, it may be labelled "Japanese Horseradish".
- In sushi restaurants, wasabi may be referred to as namida ("tears").
- Sweet, pickled ginger. Eaten to both cleanse the palate as well as to aid in the digestive process.
- In Japan, green tea (ocha) is invariably served together with sushi. Better sushi restaurants often use a distinctive premium tea known as mecha. In sushi vocabulary, green tea is known as agari.
Nutritional information
The main ingredients of sushi, raw fish and rice, are naturally low in fat (with the exception of some rolls, especially Western style rolls), high in protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals. Specifically:
- Fats: Most seafood are naturally low in fat; and what fat is found in them is generally rich in unsaturated fat Omega-3. Since sushi is often served raw, no fat is introduced in its preparation.
- Proteins: Fish, tofu, seafood, egg, and many other sushi fillings contain high levels of protein.
- Vitamins and Minerals: These are found in many of the vegetables used for sushi. For example, the gari and nori used to make sushi are both rich in nutrients. Other vegetables wrapped within the sushi also offer various degrees of nutritional value.
- Carbohydrates: These are found in the rice and the vegetables.
Health risks
Some fish such as tuna, especially bluefin, can carry high levels of mercury and can be hazardous when consumed in large quantities. As of January 2008, quite a few New York City restaurants offer tuna sushi with high enough concentration of mercury that a weekly reference dose is contained in 2-6 pieces, depending on the amount of tuna in the sushi and the person's weight.
Consuming raw or undercooked seafood presents the risk of anisakiasis. Uncooked seafood also often carries the bacterium Vibrio parahaemolyticus, which can cause diarrhea.
Also, sushi carries the risk of transmitting parasitic infection and other pathogens.
In addition, some forms of sushi, notably puffer fugu, can cause severe poisoning if not prepared properly.
Sushi is usually eaten with salty condiments such as soy sauce, which are added by the diner in whatever quantity is desired. Those with hypertension or renal disorders must take care not to eat too much salt inadvertently by overusing such condiments.
Presentation
In Japan, and increasingly abroad, conveyor belt sushi/sushi train (kaiten zushi) restaurants are a popular, cost effective way of eating sushi. At these restaurants, the sushi is served on color-coded plates, with each color denoting the cost of the sushi serving. The plates are placed on a conveyor belt or boats floating in a moat. As the belt or boat passes, the customers choose their desired plates. After finishing, the bill is tallied by counting how many plates of each color have been taken. Some kaiten sushi restaurants in Japan operate on a fixed price system, with each plate, consisting usually of two pieces of sushi, generally costing between ¥100 and ¥200.
More traditionally, sushi is served on minimalist Japanese-style, geometric, wood or lacquer plates which are mono- or duo-tone in color, in keeping with the aesthetic qualities of this cuisine. Many small sushi restaurants actually use no plates — the sushi is eaten directly off of the wooden counter, usually with one's hands.
Modern fusion presentation has given sushi a European sensibility, taking Japanese minimalism and garnishing it with Western gestures such as the colorful arrangement of edible ingredients, the use of differently flavored sauces, and the mixing of foreign flavors. Highly suggestive of French cuisine, this deviates somewhat from the more traditional, austere style of Japanese sushi.
Recently, sushi chefs have begun to create sushi art, a movement purportedly pioneered by chef Ken Kawasumi. At the release of one of his books, Kawasumi, who has written guides on the art of sushi, recreated the famous Sunflowers painting by Vincent van Gogh using sushi as a medium.
Etiquette
Sushi can be eaten either by hand or using chopsticks, although traditionally nigiri is eaten with the fingers because the rice is packed loosely so as to fall apart in one's mouth, and would disintegrate on chopsticks. Condiments (soy sauce, wasabi, and pickled ginger) are used as desired.
Many sushi restaurants offer fixed-price sets, selected by the chef from the catch of the day. These are often graded as sho-chiku-bai, sho/matsu (?, pine), chiku/take (?, bamboo) and bai/ume (?, ume), with matsu the most expensive and ume the cheapest. The house soy sauce is often diluted with dashi, a broth made from fish flakes and kelp.
Utensils for preparing sushi
Environmental aspects of sushi
Some environmental groups, such as the WWF and others, have begun campaigns to raise attention to the issue of overfishing driving down natural stocks of fish in the world's oceans.
One species in particular, the Mediterranean Bluefin Tuna, is reported to be at only 13% of its 1975 population, despite management and conservation measures introduced by ICCAT (The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna). In Bluefin Tuna's case, the problem has been exacerbated by the use of so-called "tuna farms," where wild Bluefin are fattened up in pens that are often subsidized by European Union nations wishing to support their domestic aquaculture industries.
Overfishing has been driven by profit motive, as fishing entities and corporations pursue high prices paid for certain species of fish.
Guinness World Records
- January 1992: A 325 kg (715 lb) Bluefin tuna sold for $83,500 (almost $257 / kg or $117 / lb) in Tokyo, Japan. The tuna was reduced to 2,400 servings of sushi for wealthy diners at $75 per serving. The gross income, not counting the cost of the fish or the costs of producing the sushi, was $180,000. At the time, the fish held the record for Most Expensive Fish.
- October 12, 1997: The longest sushi roll. Six hundred members of the Nikopaka Festa Committee made a kappamaki (cucumber roll) that was 1 km (3,281 ft.) long at Yoshii, Japan.
Gallery
See also
External links
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