The Book of Sushi by Kinjiro Omae | Yuzuru Tachibana, 132 Pages

As we approach the sushi shop, it is a good time to think briefly about this representative Japanese food, for isn't it true that the better we understand the things we eat and the ways they are prepared, the more we appreciate them?
A charming legend has it that long ago an old man and his wife charitably left some rice in the nest of an osprey living near their house. Later they found fish in the nest. They took the fish home, ate it and were delighted by the intriguing flavor their leftover rice had imparted to the fish as it underwent natural fermentation. This may be only a story, but it agrees with the historical account of how in ancient times vinegared rice was used to preserve fish. The fish was later eaten, the rice discarded. As time passed and the Japanese developed their cuisine and enriched it with importations from abroad, they began to eat both fish and rice, and something approaching modern sushi was created.
There are many ways to prepare sushi, and it can be made at home. Three widely known types are oshizushi (pressed sushi), chirashi-zushi (scattered sushi) and maki-zushi (rolled sushi). The first is made by pressing rice and other ingredients in a mold. In the Osaka-Kyoto area where it originated and is still very popular, it features more cooked than raw seafoods. In making chirashi-zushi, pieces of cooked or uncooked seafood and vegetables are arranged on loosely packed sushi rice. This kind is served in bowls. In the Osaka version the ingredients are cooked, then chopped or sliced. Maki-zushi is made by rolling rice and other ingredients (seafoods or vegetables) in thin sheets of nori seaweed.
We will devote most of our attention to the sovereign of the sushi world--nigiri-zushi, or Edomae-zushi as it is called because it was first made and was once found only in Edo, as Tokyo was known prior to 1868. Today it is eaten all over Japan and in many other countries as well. It is made of vinegared rice and raw, marinated or cooked fish, shellfish or other toppings.
In the following pages, we present the fundamentals of sushi making, from the difficult task of selecting the right fish to the final step of forming attractive and appetizing food, after first having a look at the sushi shop itself.

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