Sushi Through the Ages

The History of Sushi

• Narezushi, the earliest form of sushi, was created in Japan around the Yayoi period, where fish was fermented with vinegar, salt, and rice.

• During the Muromachi period, people began to eat the rice as well as the fish, and during the Edo period, vinegar began to be used instead of fermented rice.

• Hanaya Yohei is believed to be the inventor of modern sushi, particularly nigiri-zushi, in the early 19th century.

• The Japanese started eating three meals a day, and rice was boiled instead of steamed, which changed the Japanese cuisine.

• During the Edo period, haya-zushi was developed, which is a type of sushi that is mixed with vinegar and doesn't require fermentation.

• Many types of sushi, such as chirashizushi, inarizushi, makizushi, and nigirizushi, were invented during the Edo period and are a type of haya-zushi.

• Raw salmon was not consumed in Japan before the late 1980s due to the risk of anisakiasis from marine parasites.

• Funazushi is a rare type of narezushi that is aged for up to four years.

• Makizushi or norimaki, rice and various ingredients rolled with nori, appeared after the invention of the sheet form of nori seaweed around 1750.

• Sushi was already being served in the United States by the early 1900s, following an influx of Japanese immigration after the Meiji Restoration.

• The Kawafuku restaurant in Little Tokyo has been credited with being the "first true sushi bar" in the United States.

• The California roll is believed to have been invented in Los Angeles by substituting a slice of avocado for the seasonal toro in a traditional maki roll.The History and Etymology of Sushi

• The California roll was invented in Los Angeles by a sushi chef named Ichiro Mashita in the 1970s.

• The first sushi conveyor belt in Australia appeared in Queensland in 1993, when Sushi Train opened its first restaurant.

• Australia is a major source of rice used in sushi, particularly Leeton, New South Wales, which is the headquarters of SunRice.

• Sushi is believed to have been introduced to Australia between the early 1970s and the 1980s.

• David Bowie's contract rider in his 1983 Serious Moonlight Tour included sushi to be on the menu, which was rare and exotic in New Zealand at the time.

• St Pierre's, a nationwide food franchise in New Zealand, began serving sushi in 1993, after originally being established as a seafood delicatessen in Wellington in 1984.

• The Japanese name "sushi" is written with kanji (Chinese characters) for ancient Chinese dishes that bear little resemblance to today's sushi.

• The first use of "鮨" appeared in The Face and Hand, the oldest Chinese dictionary believed to be written around the third century BC.

• The term "醢" refers to a fermented meat made from salted minced pork, and "鮨" is a salted, minced, and fermented fish.

• The Chinese character "鮨" is believed to have a much earlier origin, but this is the earliest recorded instance of that character being associated with food.

• "鮨" was not associated with rice.

• The California roll was also invented in Vancouver by Hidekazu in 1974 using barbecued salmon.