March 13th 2023
The origins of sushi
A small topping1 on top of a piece of rice. That is one way to say what sushi is now.
The custom of eating uncooked fish started in eastern Asia over two thousand (2,000) years ago and ‘sushi’ was a very different thing then. The fish type that was often used was carp (koi) and this fish was often got from rice fields. The fish was fermented,2 together with rice got from the same fields as the fish, for over a year. This preserved3 the fish.
Often the fish and rice were fermented in barrels and when the barrels were opened the rice which had become slimy,4 was thrown away and only the fish was eaten.
In the 8th century5 this custom of fermented fish first arrived in Japan. The fermentation process changed over the years and rice vinegar started to be used instead of salt to ferment the rice and people started to eat the rice along with the fish.
By the 17th century, that’s the sixteen hundreds (1600’s), rice was not used for fermentation. Vinegar was used to ferment the fish and this changed the taste a lot and helped make the fermentation process quicker.
Sushi changed and it started to look a little like the sushi people eat now, although raw6 fish didn’t start to be used until the 20th century – the nineteen hundreds (1900’s) when fridges7 appeared.
Modern sushi
There are two main types of sushi – 握り寿司 (nigirizushi) and 巻き寿司 (makizushi).
握る (nigiru) means ‘grip’ or ‘grasp’ in English and this type of sushi was said to have been started by a man called Yohei Hanaya in the early eighteen hundreds (1800’s). The fish used in those days was preserved in vinegar or salt or boiled. It was not raw. These days raw tuna and salmon are the most popular toppings for nigirizushi.
巻く （maku） means to ‘roll something up ‘. Makizushi can be divided into 細巻き (hosomaki) and 太巻き（futomaki). 細い（hosoi) means narrow or thin and 太い (futoi) means ‘thick’. Hosomaki usually has one type of filling in it. Futomaki usually has two or more things mixed together to make the filling8 .
Both nigirizushi and makizushi can be eaten by hand. Although you don’t see many people eating sushi by hand these days, it is not a problem if you do. Indeed it often seems more natural to just use your hands and in the past everyone did.
Nori is always put around makizushi and with nigirizushi it lets people use soft toppings such as ウニ (uni) sea urchin or イクラ(ikura) salmon roe (eggs).
Modern sushi started in Japan
What are reasons sushi started in Japan do you think?
The soft, sticky, short grain rice in Japan suits sushi. The rice doesn’t separate easily.
The modern style of nigirizushi first became popular in the fast paced Edo, the previous name for Tokyo, which was a very big city at that time compared to other cities, just as it is now. The pressure for people to do things quickly is big in Japan and sushi seemed to suit the lifestyles of the Edo people even all those years ago. Now it suits the fast paced lives of a lot of people across the globe.
It is a versatile9 food. Sushi can be eaten as a quick meal when you’re on the move, can be eaten as a snack or can be delivered to your home. It can be eaten by hand, doesn’t need to be warmed up and doesn’t have a strong smell, so you can eat it easily anywhere.
Is the smell thing one big reason modern sushi happened to be created in Japan? In daily life there are not many strong smells in Japan and it seems Japanese in the past didn’t like strong smells, including food smells, just as they don’t now. The tastes in Japanese food are often quite delicate. The fermented fish a thousand years ago had a very strong smell and once someone opened the barrel with the fermented rice and fish inside it, they probably wanted to close it again quickly…..
Perhaps the people didn’t like the waste10? The Japanese were the first people to eat the fermented rice and not throw it away.
The vinegar helps stop the smell and so do the condiments11. In Japan the main condiments that people add by themselves to sushi if eating at home are soya sauce, wasabi and ginger.
In restaurants examples of condiments used on fish are grated ginger and chopped 青ネギ (aonegi). Aonegi has a taste somewhere between a spring onion, which is like a small, strong tasting aonegi and a leek, 長ネギ (naganegi) in Japanese.
Citrus fruits such as 柚 (yuzu) or すだち (sudachi) are also popular condiments. All the condiments for sushi are quite refreshing and help hide the fish smell that the Japanese don’t seem to like. They also help bring out12 the taste of the raw fish.
The sliced ginger that comes with sushi is there to clean the palate13. It is there for you to use to clean your mouth ready for the next piece of sushi.
Thinking about getting the seafood from the sea to the table, you can also imagine why sushi started in Japan. The transport system is reliable14 in Japan. The handling 15 of the raw seafood and storage16 and general hygiene 17 are all good. Certainly hygiene is very important. You don’t often hear of food poisoning18 in Japan.
Sushi is a fast food but the famous fermented slow foods in Japan such as miso or nattō need the very same19 attention to detail20 when creating them. ‘Slow and old’ needs the same attention to detail as ‘fast and new’ you could say.
3. to ‘preserve’ ~
<Example sentences>
■ Old things made hundreds of years ago are sometimes found perfectly preserved under snow.
■ People can preserve fish by smoking it. That’s what we call smoked fish.
■ Tsukemono (漬物) are called pickles in English. The vegetables are preserved by putting salt on them and leaving them for some time.
9. ‘versatile’
<Example sentences>
■ Wood is a versatile building material.
■ She is such a versatile actor. She can act in any type of movie.
■ That football player is very versatile. He can player in any position.
10. to ‘waste’ ~/ waste
<Example sentences>
■ Please try to eat most of your school lunch. It’s a waste if you don’t.
■ People waste a lot of money on clothes. They buy them and then don’t wear them.
■ Not using plastic straws helps a little to reduce all the plastic waste in the world.
12. to ‘bring out’ ~ (in) ~
<Example sentences>
■ A yellow frame for that painting will bring out the bright colours in it.
■ My son’s new teacher has brought the best out in him.
■ Her new friends have brought out the worst in her.
■ Putting oil on the vegetables before you grill them will help bring out their flavours.
14. reliable / to rely on ~
<Example sentences>
■ The postal service is very reliable – things are rarely lost.
■ I think the brothers are very different. One is so reliable. And the other one. Not reliable at all. Unreliable!
■ This printer is always stopping. I can never rely on it.
■ Don’t worry. My sister will email you tomorrow as she said. She’s a reliable person.
■ He’s young but I trust him a lot. He’ll try hard. We can rely on him for sure.
16. storage / to ‘store’ ~
<Example sentences>
■ They moved to a smaller house so they put some things in storage.
■ There’s not enough storage space for our clothes. We need to buy a closet or something.
■ Where can I store my old books?
19. the ‘very same’ ~
<Example sentences>
■ He’s the very same person that said having a car was a bad thing. I can’t believe he bought a big, new car!
■ The lady who helps me most at work these days is the very same person who was not nice to me at first.
20. ‘attention to detail’
<Example sentences>
■ She prepared so well for the party. Her attention to detail is amazing.
■ The team coach likes attention to detail and I think it helps a lot.
■ Be careful with the report that you’ll write for the boss. Attention to detail is very important for her.
■ What are the most popular toppings?
■ Do you ever eat sushi with your hands?
■ What vegetarian sushi do you know of?
■ Do you go to revolving sushi restaurants?
■ I’ve had meat toppings before. ~ .
■ Is raw fish ok with you?
■ Do you eat things like wasabi and ginger with sushi?
■ Can you buy sushi in supermarkets where you are from?
■ I think you’d like ~ sushi.
- a ‘topping’ is the thing you can eat that is put on food before you get the food. The coverings of pizzas, salads and hamburgers are toppings for example.
- ‘fermented’ food or drink is food or drink that has had a chemical change happen to it due to bacteria. Yoghurt, miso, wine and beer are examples of fermented things.
- to ‘preserve’ food means to do something to it so that you can keep it for a long time without it going bad.
- something which is ‘slimy’ is smooth, wet and sticky. When a snail moves it leaves slime on the ground.
- a ‘century’ is a period of a hundred years. The 8th century is from year 701 through to year 800.
- ‘raw’ food means uncooked food.
- ‘fridges’ also called ‘refrigerators’, are machines people usually have in kitchens to keep food cool or frozen.
- in this sentence ‘filling’ means the food inside the sushi rice. Sandwiches and pies are examples of food that has fillings.
- if something or someone is ‘versatile’ it or he can be used in different ways in different situations.
- in this sentence ‘waste’ means throwing away something without using it.
- ‘condiments’ means something that you eat with the main food to make it taste better. Sauces, dressings, spices and cheeses are all well known condiments. You might put them on while you’re eating or they may already be on the food when you get it.
- in this sentence ‘bring out’ means release or show something that has been hidden.
- to ‘clean the palate’ means to eat something to take away the taste from inside your mouth of the thing that you’ve just eaten.
- ‘reliable’ means that you can trust something or someone to do something that you expect it or them to do.
- in this sentence ‘handling’ means the touching, preparation and movement of the food.
- ‘storage’ means keeping something until you need it.
- ‘hygiene’ means keeping yourself and the things and place around you clean so that you don’t get sick.
- ‘food poisoning’ means getting sick from eating bad food.
- in this sentence ‘the very same’ means exactly the same thing even although something about the situation is very different.
- ‘attention to detail’ means you plan well and think of all the little things needed to make something work well.