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The evolution of the most staple Japanese food
When people think of sushi they usually picture a vinegared riceball with raw fish on top and maybe some wasabi in between. But sushi didn’t always look like the sushi that we see today. In fact, the original sushi is unrecognizable to the modern sushi.
The name sushi in Japanese(すし) derives from the word Su(す), which is used to describe the sour taste. In Kanji, another form of Japanese writing, sushi is written as 鮨, which means fermented fish. In older times, sushi was a fermented dish rather than the fresh fish and riceball that we are used to.
How Sushi Came about in Japan
In the 2nd century A.D., a way of storing fish was invented in Southern China and Southeast Asia. The storing method was to salt the fish and cover it in rice which begins to ferment the fish. This allowed for the fish to be edible for months and years without going bad. Fermented rice gave out a very sour taste and although the rice wasn’t edible, the edible fish was also very sour and fermented.
What developed in Southern China and Southeast Asia travelled to Japan through sea trade routes in the 8th century. As Buddhism was becoming a major religion in Japan, many restrained themselves from consuming meat from terrestrial animals. As a replacement, people found…
