June 18 – International Sushi Day

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 holidayshistorical anniversaries in June, and June birthdays.

And here are my Pinterest pages on July holidayshistorical anniversaries in July, and July birthdays.


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