There has been a rising demand for sushi dishes across the globe for its taste and aesthetics. Looking at Sushi’s history, Sushi, surprisingly, was not of Japanese Origin. According to some sources, Sushi was traced as far back in China and from there was able to move to Japan. The farthest evidence we have in tracing the roots of Sushi dates back to the 4th century found in the Chinese dictionary (Mouritsen, 15). Sushi was officially found to have been introduced in Japan in the 9th century. However, its origins is questionable whether it is originally made from China and made its way to Japan. The earliest methods of making sushi involved the fish being fermented for as long as three year before it is consumed. One of the sushi that exemplifies this method of production is known as the Funa-zushi located in Lake Biwa, Japan. The fish is caught fresh from the lake at the end of the summer, salted, layered in cooked rice, placed inside a wooden box under pressured with a heavy rock to be fermented for at least half a year or longer. When it is served, the layer of rice is discarded except for the fish. The fish is placed on a designed plate for aesthetic purposes and sliced to display the insides of the fermented fish. Portions sizes were bigger as well because the fermentation is made in bulks. Sushi production and how we conceive it now changed over the course of time and this is because of the innovations and events that happened in history that contributed to its evolution. Couple of things that influenced the evolution of sushi are cultural influences shaping its ingredients, aesthetics and taste. , the new methods of producing the condiments needed and their discover, technological advancements such as refrigeration and effective transportation, and lastly immigration on the idea that when people move, they bring their knowledge of the cuisine with them.
This timeline illustrates how sushi evolved, how they looked, and what factors contributed to its evolution:
In Matsumoto Yoshiichi’s studies, he discovered that rice vinegar tenderized the fish and at the same time give the rice this distinct taste (Mouritsen, 16). To prepare it, you have to cook the rice, add rice vinegar to the cooked rice to shorten fermentation period, and place the rice and the fish in layers to ferment it in the course of 24 hours. Consume it immediately after it is served.