History of Sushi

It was salted fish meat in rice and was eaten only after it was allowed to ferment. It would seem in those days the rice was discarded and only the fish meat was eaten. As salt was also introduced to help in the fermentation of the fish meat, rice became less associated with the Sushi until it was hardly used at all in China.

It is estimated that Sushi first was introduced to Japan in the seventh century AD. Sushi became more and more closely related to rice in Japan until the modern date when the Sushi is eaten with the Sushi rice.

Originally, cleaned, raw fish were pressed between layers of salt and weighted with a stone. After a few weeks, the stone was removed and replaced with a cover, and a few months later, the fermented fish and rice were considered ready to eat. Some restaurants in Tokyo still serve this original style of sushi, (nare-sushi) made with freshwater carp.

Its flavour is so strong that it obscures the fish's identity altogether, and nare-sushi is something of an acquired taste. In the eighteenth century a chef named Yohei decided to forego the fermentation and serve sushi in something resembling its present form. It became very popular and two distinct styles emerged. Kansai style, from the city of Osaka in the Kansai region, and Edo style, from Tokyo, which was then called Edo. Osaka has always been the commercial capital of Japan, and the rice merchants there developed sushi that consisted primarily of seasoned rice mixed with other ingredients and formed into decorative, edible packages.

Tokyo, located on a bay, then rich with fish and shellfish, produced nigiri sushi, featuring a select bit of seafood on a small pad of seasoned rice. Although the ornamental sushi of the Kansai region is still very popular, it is nigiri sushi that foreigners are familiar with. Today, even Japanese consider nigiri sushi is the origin of sushi, the truth is different. Kansai sushi (Osaka Sushi) has much more history and techniques than nigiri sushi, few Japanese knows about this fact.