Venice Japanese Community Center

Cultural Corner

Have you ever wondered about...

Sushi?

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Also from previous Cultural Corner articles
Anecdotal information
Photos by Don Nishimoto

(In Two Parts)

By Emy Murakawa

Part I

Did you know that at one time sushi was a common food for home cooking? Now, most of us go to sushi bars, buy it at festivals or carnivals, buy it in our local supermarkets, or order it for special occasions. Some of us are lucky enough to have baachan or obasan who occasionally treat family to barazushi (literally, loose sushi), makizushi (filled sushi rolls wrapped in nori, dried seaweed), or the universally favorite, inarizushi (sushi rice in little sacks made from fried tofu).

Sushi (su or vinegar, shi from meshi or rice) is commonly confused with sashimi (raw, sliced fish) by non-Asians, probably because they associate the raw fish with the nigiri served at sushi bars.

An example of inarizushi and makizushi

An example of inarizushi and makizushi

Common Styles or Types of Sushi

Makizushi is made by taking a sheet of nori, putting on a layer of rice (leaving a couple of centimeters free in one end), and then adding some filling. This is rolled up using a makisu mat (made of long bamboo strips woven together with a cotton string) and "glued" together by wetting the free end of the seaweed so that it sticks to the roll. The roll is then cut up into slices about two centimeters thick. Types of makizushi include:

chumaki – chu(medium)maki, middle or medium sized rolled makizushi with two or more ingredients
futomaki – futo(thick)maki, thick rolled makizushi with several ingredients
hosomaki – hoso(thin)maki, thinly rolled makizushi with typically only one ingredient, commonly called “rolls” – most common of the rolls are:

kappa -- cucumber
natto -- fermented beans
oshinko -- takuan or other tsukemono (pickled vegetable)
tamago -- sweet flavored plain omelet
tekka - maguro (tuna)
ume – paste of ume (plum)
wasabi – paste of wasabi

An example of other sushi

Here you see kappamaki, oshinkomaki and tekkamaki

Nigirizushi is made by hand-pressing rice together into a lump slightly smaller than a hen's egg. On top of this, a piece of fish, prawn, or something similar is placed, often with some wasabi (green, spicy paste) underneath it. Sometimes a thin band of seaweed is used to hold the fish in place.

Temakizushi or handroll is a large cone formed by a sheet of nori and filled with rice and other ingredients. A handroll is eaten with the fingers since it is too big to be held by chopsticks.

Inarizushi is also called agezushi, and is vinegared rice wrapped into a thin

slice of fried tofu (abura age). The abura agé is usually square when you buy it. It is cut in half (diagonally or straight) before preparing. The agé is prepared by briefly boiling in a sauce of sugar, mirin and soy sauce before usage. After draining some of the fluid, a pocket is made by carefully separating the two fried sides of the piece. Inarizushi is either rectangular or triangular (based on how the agé was cut), not unlike an onigiri.

Chirashizushi, also referred to as barazushi, is vinegared rice mixed with fish, seafood, slightly boiled and sweetened vegetables and thin slices of fried egg. It is said to be the simplest to prepare within the sushi family.

Oshizushi (pressed sushi) originated in Osaka and is vinegared rice, marinated fish and other ingredients, such as shiso (Chinese basil – aojiso, which is green, or akajiso, which is red), layered and pressed into an oshizushihako (wooden or plastic mold). The resulting loaf is cut into mouth size pieces before serving.

Part II will present common ingredients and simple recipes.