Posted
June 18, 2013
Sushi
101
Does
sushi mean “raw meat”?
No,
raw meat (usually seafood), served by itself, is called sashimi in Japanese dining.
Sushi
is a dish made with cooked, vinegared rice combined with other
ingredients. These “other ingredients” are called neta,
and they often include raw fish or other seafood. But not always.
 |
| Sashimi |
Does
sushi always come in round disks, surrounded by seaweed?
No,
sushi is presented in many different ways. The thing that all sushi
has in common is the cooked, vinegared rice that is combined with
some sort of neta.
Is
sushi native to Japan?
No.
Southeast Asians developed the original form of sushi. It sounds
really disgusting to me: fish fermented by being wrapped in souring,
fermenting rice. The dish spread to southern China before reaching
Japan.
However,
our modern, internationally known sushi, which involves vinegared
rice rather than soured, fermented rice, was developed in Japan by a
man named Hanaya Yohei in the first half of the 1800s. He was
basically creating fast food—food that could be prepared rather
quickly and eaten with one's hands.
Are
Western forms of sushi such as the California roll eaten in Japan?
Apparently
not. In the early 1980s, Norwegians began to use salmon in sushi, and
that innovation spread to Japan, but most Western versions of sushi
are not found there.
You
can often tell a Western form of sushi from a Japanese form by the
name. A Seattle roll or Nigirizushi—which is the Western form? How
about Makizushi or Philadelphia roll?
What
kinds of ingredients are found with the rice in sushi?
Here are some: (There are more!)
Outer wrappings, ties, or pouches:
Fried tofu ...... Seaweed (nori) ...... Thin omelets
Soy paper ...... Cucumber ...... Shiso leaves
Octopus ...... Eel ...... Squid
Inside:
Green beans ...... Carrots ...... Cucumber
Lotus root ...... Bamboo shoots ...... Avocado
Scallion ...... Corn with mayo ...... Bean sprouts
Dried gourd shavings (um...yum?)
Gobo (a vegetable known as burdock)
Lettuce ...... Onion ...... Mango
Sesame seeds ...... Chili pepper ...... Shrimp powder
Spicy mayo ...... Cream cheese ...... Omelet
Fish roe ...... Tuna ...... Salmon
Whitefish ...... Oysters ...... Sea urchin
Quail eggs ...... Imitation crab ...... Crab
Yellowtail tempura ...... Prawn ...... Snapper
Ready
for your exam?
Go
to a sushi restaurant and revel in the choices and flavors! Enjoy!
Also
on this date:
Plan
ahead:
Check
out my Pinterest pages on June
holidays, historical
anniversaries in June,
and June
birthdays.
And
here are my Pinterest pages on July
holidays, historical
anniversaries in July,
and July
birthdays.
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