SUSHI

I developed a taste for "sushi" when I re-visited Japan as a teacher on JET programme. My interest in the history of sushi deepened as I sampled and enjoyed various types of sushi during my stay there. That's when I realized that the world of sushi is so vast. Each prefecture has it's own kind of sushi. 

I particularly enjoyed "Tekone sushi", a speciality of Ise, Mie prefecture. It is fish piled on rice but is well-mixed. My Japanese friend's mother introduced me to this new kind of sushi as a part of my ongoing study of sushis.

Sushis have made traditional Japanese cuisine more famous worldwide. I have been reading about different types of sushis lately. "Nigiri-zushi" and "Maki-zushi" are quite popular everywhere and naturally I too enjoyed it's flavours. Nigiri-zushi as we all know it is basically a clump of sushi rice (folding vinegar into rice) pressed together and decorated with a topping of raw fish or cooked fish. I read that Nigiri means “press in the hand".It is best to have it at restaurants than at home.

The traditional sushi takes a long time to prepare. Funa-zushi from Shiga Prefecture is one of the oldest. Fish is pickled in rice and salt for about half a year and allowed to ferment. When it matures, you have a thin slice of the fish accompanied by hot water. It's quite delicious actually.

Maki-zushi reminds me of swiss rolls for some reason. Maki-zushi or Nori-Maki is rolled sushi and is again very popular in other countries too. A bamboo rolling mat is used here to wrap the sushi rice and various ingredients in nori (seaweed).It is then sliced.Maki-zushi can be easily prepared at home. 

Sushi doesn't always have raw fish. Some are just seasoned with sake, vinegar and soy sauce. Ingredients are at times just mixed in sushi rice and then seasoned with soy sauce and vinegar. Talking about raw fish, I love sashimi too ( raw fish served by itself ).