Sushi comes to Japan

The history of Japanese Sushi starts from the time when this special Chinese delicacy got introduced to Japan in the 8th century.  Before that it was served in China from as early as 4th century BC. Sushi was then used as a preserved food prepared with salted fish and fermented with rice and it was supposed to be a good source of protein. This type of sushi, known as nare-zushi, is perhaps the oldest among all different varieties of sushi delicacies.

History of sushi in Japan

During the Heian dynasty of Japan, sushi got introduced to this country and gained much popularity. Japanese people had a preference of eating rice and fish together and that is why, they liked the taste and flavor of this type of sushi. At the end of the Muromachi period, it was quite a common Japanese menu for every household. The Japanese changed the way of preparing the sushi to some extent, such that the fish remains little raw along with the flavor of fermented rice. This way, the sushi started to be an iconic food of Japan.

The Japansese later modified the sushi recipe during the Edo dynasty, which became a new entry in the Japanese sushi history. This unique type of sushi specialty was prepared in such a way, that rice and fish both can be eaten at the same time. This sushi was known as haya-zushi, where the rice was marinated with vinegar and mixed with fish, vegetables and other dried food ingredients. Nowadays, each and every region of Japan has its own cuisine of making sushi following their individual tradition through several generations.

There was another special addition to the sushi cuisine, when nigiri-zushi originated at Tokyo, during the 19th century. This type of sushi was made with the fresh fish and seaweed collected from the Tokyo Bay or Edomae. Hence, the other name edomae-zushi was given to this specialty. Furthermore, an innovative sushi specialist; popularized this sushi among the citizens of Tokyo by making some sort of modifications. However, in 1923 the nigiri-zushi gained country-wide popularity, when the specialist chefs spread through all over the country after the earthquake of Great Kanto.

Sushi travels to United States and other countries

Sushi became popular to United States, during the 80’s, when Japanese people started to open sushi bars in different parts of the country. Consequently, it made an entry to the exquisite restaurants in various parts of the world. People started to like this food for its exceptional flavor, taste and moreover the health benefit. Sushi has been known as one of the healthiest food of world. Today, special sushi machines are available in the market to help in mass production. Sushi chefs have also acquired special skills to innovate new techniques for making the product much more delicious and healthy.

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