When someone mentions sushi, our minds immediately go to the Japanese cuisine. Sushi is a Japanese way of cooking and serving vinegared rice in a combination with other ingredients such as seafood, vegetables, meat, fruits and so on. Sushi is prepared differently. The preparation process depends on the culture and the wish of the chef. Despite the preparation and the serving, sushi has one key ingredient and that is rice also referred to as shari or sumeshi. The rice used for sushi can be either brown or white.
Despite the rice, sushi is cooked with raw seafood, chicken meat or with some other vegetables in order to make a vegetarian variant. Soy sauce, pickled ginger, wasabi or daikon are usually used as side dish for sushi. What cause confusion for many people is that sushi and sashimi are two different meals. Sushi is a serving of vinegared rice in a combination with other ingredients such as seafood, vegetables, meat, fruits and so on and sashimi is also a Japanese dish consisted of thinly sliced raw meat or fish and rice is optional. Rice is usually a side dish for sashimi.
The word sushi refers to a sour and savoury taste. In a literal translation it means a sour – tasting food. Despite the meaning of the word, not all types of sushi have a sour taste. The origin of sushi comes from the other Japanese dish known today as nare-zushi. It is a salted fish, stored in fermented rice in order to be used more months. The lacto – fermentation of rice prevents the fish to spoil and the fished can be kept for a longer period. This so-called the first type of sushi was considered to be one of the main sources of protein for Japanese people. Narezushi is still served in Japan now and many people consider this meal as a type of sushi. The two most popular types of sushi are Inarizushi and Makizushi.
Inarizushi is type of sushi made with rice and with fried tofu. This type of sushi got its name by the Shrinto god Inari who was a great fan of fried tofu. Even this is the original recipe for this type of sushi, some of the regional varieties include a thin omelette, fukusa-zushi, chakin-zushi and so on. This type of sushi is often confused with inari maki. Cone sushi is a variant of inarizushi originating in Hawaii that includes green beans, carrots, and gobo along with rice, wrapped in a triangular aburage piece.
