Edomae Sushi: How Today's Nigiri Sushi Began...

We don’t really know where sushi actually came from or who invented it. It can be said that sushi was a way to preserve fish and has been around for many centuries. Back then, whole fish would be salted and packed in steamed rice. A chemical reaction would occur and the fish would be preserved. Months later when it came time to eat the fish, the rice would be discarded and the fish eaten. Trevor Corson, author of “The Story of Sushi”, describes the taste of this early sushi as “pungent aged cheese, with butter and vinegar overtones.” It was much different than the pristine fish and rice that we enjoy today.

Edomae Sushi from the early 1800s

Description of the sushi above

This style of sushi dates back to the early 1800’s in Tokyo or Edo, as it was known back then. Edomae means “Tokyo Front” or Tokyo style of sushi with fish from Tokyo Bay. They used the local fish which they caught in the Tokyo Bay area. Majority of the seafood used was Sea Bream, Horse Mackerel, Squid, Mackerel, Tiger Prawns, Gizzard Shad, and many others. The sushi size (fish and rice) was much larger than today’s nigiri sushi and would be consumed in 2-3 bites.

Sushi was sold at stands around Edo (Tokyo), these stands were about the size of today’s hot dog carts. I guess you can say it was an early version of today's Fast Food. These sushi stands had a roof and a noren hanging over the stand, a cloth usually with the proprietor’s name on it. Back then, Zagat and Yelp weren’t around to help you decide where to eat. So you looked at the noren, the dirtier it was the better. Once customers finished with their sushi, they would wipe their hands on the cloth hanging above and go on their way. Hard to believe that sushi began in the streets.

Sushi originated from using local seafood. Ask your chef if they have any local fish and then try it, you might like it.

Continue to eat sushi and UMI will continue to educate you One Fish at a time.

Article by Jay Terauchi

"TUNA" on NHK World

The King of the Sushi Bar will be featured this Thursday (March 4th) on NHK World's "BEGIN Japanology". They'll take a look at Japan’s most popular fish, TUNA, and explore questions such as “As stocks decline and international quotas are adopted, can Japan’s voracious appetite for tuna be met through new methods such as breeding the fish from eggs?”

We'll be watching, will you? It shows that others are concerned about tuna too. Continue to enjoy sushi and follow UMI One Fish at a time. Arigato...

For more NHK World information on this program: http://tinyurl.com/ydmaln3