寿司

Sushi is an incredibly adaptive cuisine. There are at least six different varieties of sushi including nigirizushi, makizsuhi, gunkanmaki, temakizushi, chirashizushi, and inarizushi. Sushi itself doesn’t mean “raw fish.” In fact, it actually denotes to a dish that has vinegared rice that is served with a variety of fillings and topping, one of which may be raw fish. It is said to have originated from China as a means to preserve fish in salt. Narezushi is the original form of sushi and appeared in Japan in the 8th century. It is still seen in today’s cuisine as carp sushi.

Each region of Japan took Narezushi and created their own version to be eaten during feast days and festival celebrations. Vinegar is an integral part of sushi and in the Edo period, the Japanese people began making it from the lees of sake. Mixing it in the rice made the dish very popular and this custom created nigirizushi which is like what people today consume.

In America, the popular choice of sushi that is presented is actually makizushi, which has the seaweed wrapped rolls that are cut into bite sized pieces. I had the privilege to talk to sushi chef, Min One of Ace Sushi. He showed me how to make a California styled makizushi roll. He had the rice premade, toasted nori or seaweed, an avocado, crab meat, cucumbers, spicy mayo, and soy sauce. As shown in the video, he prepared the roll on a bamboo makisu covered in plastic wrap. Then after he rolled it, he cut it and placed it into the container and added the sauce, wasabi, and ginger. The roll was fresh, beautiful to the eye, and tasted so delicious!