12 Facts About Sushi

Wonderfully delicious, artistic and culturally significant, sushi is synonymous with Japanese cuisine. It comes in many shapes and forms and goes from quick and cheap dinners to elaborate dining experiences. Sushi has become loved all over the world, and you can replicate your favourite sushi dishes at home using ingredients from our online Japanese supermarket.

Whether you are taking your first steps into the world of sushi, or have been a fan of the food for a long time, we have put together some fun trivia to increase your knowledge.

1. There are several varieties of sushi. There is temaki or hand rolls; nigiri is a ball of vinegared rice with fresh fish on top, gunkan is wrapped in seaweed, inari-zushi is sweet fried tofu filled with rice. With so many to choose from, there is a sushi dish for everyone’s preference.
2. It can take a decade or more to become a fully trained sushi chef. Known as itamae, being a sushi chef demands a passion for the food, and the training lasts around ten years, and in the first year you are not even allowed near the fish.
3. Sushi was originally fast food enjoyed by merchants. In the early days, the noren or shop’s curtain would indicate if the food of the seller was good. As customers left, they’d wipe their hands on the noren and the dirtier it was, would indicate more customers!
4. Sushi rice was not originally eaten with the fish. The rice was used to preserve the fish and help with the fermentation, and then thrown out rather than eaten. Over time, the sushi was eaten after the fermentation period was shorter.
5. Vinegar was added to sushi rice to mimic the fermented taste. The vinegar also has antibacterial qualities, and preparing the sushi rice is considered to be as important as preparing the fish.
6. Sushi should be eaten light to dark. The darker coloured pieces of the fish have a stronger flavour and leaves an aftertaste. However, in some eateries, you should eat the sushi in the order presented to you.
7. Sushi is traditionally eaten with fingers. Though at conveyer-belt sushi places, chopsticks are preferred, at high-end sushi restaurants and at home, using your fingers to eat sushi is more common.
8. International Sushi Day is June 18th. The day was invented ten years ago as a way for people across the world to share their love for sushi.
9. Kaitenzushi or conveyor belt sushi was invented in 1958. The idea came from seeing beer bottles on a conveyor belt at the Asahi brewery, and the ideal velocity is 8 cm/s; fast enough to be efficient but slow enough so diners can choose.
10. The world’s most expensive sushi was priced at $1,978. Filipino chef Angelito Araneta Jr. made the Guinness World Records with a nigiri roll which had edible gold with real diamonds and pearls.
11. Nori has some gross origins. The seaweed used to wrap sushi was scraped off wooden piers or the underside of boats, pressed into sheets and dried in the sun. Today the seaweed is cultivated and farmed.
12. Sushi and sashimi are often confused. Sushi includes vinegared rice, raw fish and other ingredients, and sashimi is raw fish served thinly sliced on daikon. Also adding to the confusion is nigiri, which is raw seafood served over hand-balled rice, but no extra ingredients.

We hope you feel more knowledgeable about sushi now! Be sure to take a look at some of our previous blog posts, from a eight delicious Japanese beef dishes to our Tamagoyaki recipe!