Sushi, also known as "sushi" or "鮓", can be used as a snack or as a main meal, and with a wide variety of ingredients, it is the main cuisine of Ninsenmiya, and as a traditional Japanese restaurant, it is inevitable that it will be there.

Sushi is one of Japan's traditional dishes, and it can be found even on the streets, and there is no shortage of food stalls on the street by slicing fresh seafood such as sea urchin yellow, abalone, peony shrimp, scallops, salmon roe, cod fish white, tuna, and salmon.

The main ingredient of sushi is rice seasoned with sushi vinegar to maintain the body's body temperature, and it is loved by the public for its delicious taste and eggs. Sushi is already recorded in the Heian period code "Enki Shiki", which was completed in 927 AD.

The Japanese word for "sushi" means sashimi, while the ancient Chinese word for "sushi" in Chinese refers to fish sauce made over a low heat.

In the early days of the introduction of Chinese characters to Japan, Japan added its own understanding of Chinese characters and replaced some Japanese foods with kanji with similar or different meanings, so that the Japanese "Siwuxi" became "鲊" and "Sasimi" became "Sushi".

In Japan, it is often said that "where there is fish, there is sushi", and the earliest sushi actually referred to a way of preserving fish. Salt the fish and press it with a weight to allow it to ferment naturally. When a sour taste develops, it can be eaten by wrapping it in crystal rice, because crystal rice has to be repeatedly rolled after being cooked and cooled, and its taste is very good.

Liu Xi's "Release? Volume two? It is also recorded in the thirteenth "Liberation Diet": "鲊滓也." Stuffed with salt and rice, cooked and eaten. It means that the fish is pickled with salt, rice, etc., and the fish is fermented and minced, and then cooked and eaten.

People in coastal areas found that cooked rice could be stored for a long time by putting it in a clean fish bore and burying it in a jar and burying it in the ground, and the food would also develop a slightly sour umami taste due to fermentation, which is the prototype of sushi, that is, loach sushi.

Mix the rice with seaweed powder. Add the peppercorns and plenty of salt. Lay out in a bucket and put a layer of live loaches, then a piece of catfish, and another layer of mixed rice. And so on. Finally, press the lid with a stone. Wrap it in a straw mat and leave it in a cool place for 7 months. That is, it became loach sushi.

Although many people's first reaction when it comes to sushi may be that it is Japanese cuisine, it is about the origin of sushi. There are indeed many opinions. Because in ancient Southeast Asia and coastal China, there were foods similar to sushi making techniques, but the forms were different. Japanese sushi is based on seaweed or seaweed rolled rice grains, sashimi, cucumber, meat floss, and burnt shallots, accompanied by wasabi, horseradish, soy sauce, and vinegar, while in coastal China, there is a cylindrical rice ball made of glutinous rice, egg yolk, crispy, peanuts, vegetables, and cooked shrimp, called rice sticks, wrapped in a layer of cooked dough, and the method is a bit similar to nigiri sushi, but the material and shape are different. During the Spring and Autumn Period, the Yue Kingdom, which is now the area around Zhejiang, has records of rice sticks, a traditional delicacy belonging to the ancient Yue people.

In the 200 years after Goguryeo surrendered to China, that is, in the Later Han Dynasty, the food of the bream began to spread in China, and it is said that it was introduced by the maritime peoples of Northeast Asia. In the dictionary, it is defined as a food made from salt, vinegar, rice, and steamed fish fillets. Sometimes deep-fried fish sticks are mixed with rice balls as the main ingredient, and the shape is an oval ball, similar to a rugby ball. But most of the time there is no fixed shape, and the bream is also used as steamed fish steak or rice steamed fish steak, but it is cooked rice, which can be used by heating or mixed with cooked fish.

Later, during the Song Dynasty, China was plagued by frequent wars, which happened to be a food for the refugees, and there were more varieties, made of vegetables, fish, meat, etc., but because there was no fixed form, it was different from Japanese sushi.

As for the definition of sushi, Battlefield Harasawami explained to Sikong Yao as: "Sushi is a small dish made with rice, raw fish and sauce that can be eaten in one bite." ”

According to the statement of the battlefield Hara Zemi, then the Chinese rice and fish sticks can also be regarded as the brother or neighbor of sushi, and shrugged helplessly, Sikong Yao did not mean to delve into it, so he wanted to skip the historical record of Sikong Yao, and asked the battlefield Hara Zemi: "Battlefield Yuan senior, can you tell me about the kitchenware of sushi cuisine?" ”

Kitchenware is the soul of the chef, the so-called worker wants to do a good job must first sharpen his tools, that is, if the craftsman wants to make his work well, he must first make the tools sharp, and the chef is still. For Chinese chefs, a kitchen knife can complete the processing of any ingredient, while Japanese cuisine is much more delicate, and the knives used to handle sashimi can be divided into four types: Yanagi, Shoyaki, Pingjiang, and Qinggang Pu Octagon, even if you are proficient in Japanese cuisine, you may not dare to say that you have mastered the use of all Japanese knives.

Battlefield Hara Zemi couldn't say the name of all Japanese knives, so he said to Sikong Yao with a sushi knife: "When I cut sushi, I used this seven-hole knife. ”

The blade is one size bigger than the knife used to cut fruits, with an obvious part called the blade, which is a standard willow blade type knife, and its biggest change is the position of the upper half finger of the blade, there are seven round holes lined up, Sikong Yao can't help but compare it with the nine-ring knife in Chinese martial arts, but naturally the sushi knife is much more fine.

Sikong Yao asked Battlefield Hara Zemi why the blade had seven holes, and Battlefield Hara Zemi's answer was, "Lose weight, lower your heart." ”

In a nutshell, reduce the weight of the sushi knife, make it easier to control the force when cutting sushi, and lower the center of gravity of the blade so that the center of gravity is closer to the blade.

Sikong Yao pondered for a while, and nodded quite appreciatively, this method of weight loss through holes is also commonly used in construction, and the most classic representative is Zhaozhou Bridge.

Next, the battlefield Hara Zemi explained to Sikong Yao one by one according to the sushi style placed on the cupboard.

First of all, it is a box of sushi that is placed on a bamboo bracket and presents a rectangular shape that has been cut in equal amounts, and the shape is quite a bit of tiramisu feeling, and the layers are distinct.

Battlefield Hara sawami said: "Box sushi is the fastest way to make a kind of death, first put the rice into a wooden box, spread all kinds of ingredients, cover and press, and then shoot out the wooden box of sushi, and then cut into pieces, like a box, hence the name." ”

A layer of white glutinous rice with a layer of roast sauce, and a layer of white glutinous rice on the top, the thick orange salmon fillets on the top show a silvery-white texture, delicately embellished with green mango thin slices of box sushi, which is very good-looking, and also gives Sikong Yao a sense of novelty.

Next to the box sushi is a boxy, obviously knowing that Sikong Yao has doubts, because the battlefield Hara Zemi explained: "This is Oshi sushi, also known as wooden sushi or overnight sushi, which is a kind of box sushi, mainly popular in the Kansai area, and it is also used to make sushi with long small wooden boxes." Sometimes, customers from the Kansai area come to the restaurant, so we also prepare this square sushi. ”

Battlefield Harasawami then added: "In the Kansai region, there is also a kind of rice that mixes ingredients directly into a bowl, and it has the name of sushi without sushi, which is called Gomesansushi. ”

It was the first time that Sikong Yao had seen the square sushi, and he heard the battlefield Harasawa say that bibimbap-like dishes were also called sushi, so he said in surprise: "Eh, I thought the sushi was all round, or that kind of rice was stacked with sashimi." ”

Battlefield Harasawa smiled and patiently explained: "The kind of round sushi you are talking about should be this kind of rolled sushi, spread a layer of rice on top of a small bamboo curtain, and then spread a layer of seaweed, put the ingredients in the middle, roll it up into a long roll, and then cut it into small pieces, although it is not as fast as the box sushi, but it is also very convenient." ”

Battlefield Hara Zemi pointed out a small cucumber roll wrapped in cucumber and meat floss, hidden under glutinous rice, and a seaweed line outlined the verdant and fluffy meat floss inside, which was refreshing with salad dressing.

However, Sikong Yao did hesitate and said: "It's a little different from the ones I've eaten, the kind I've eaten, although the shape is the same, but this seaweed seems to be wrapped outside." ”

Battlefield Harasawa said with a smile: "Then you should be referring to the inner roll, which in turn wraps the most central ingredient with seaweed, and then wraps it in rice, and generally speaking, the outermost layer will be sprinkled with sesame seeds, fish roe, crab roe, and so on." ”

Then the battlefield Hara Zemi pointed to Sikong Yao a crab meat roll, the glutinous rice wrapped in sweet crab meat was lured by the red tomato sauce, and a little bright caviar was sprinkled on top, which was very beautiful.

Next, Battlefield Harasawami explained, "And the kind of sushi that you mentioned with sashimi on top of top of it is nigiri sushi, where the maker holds the rice into pieces with his hands, coats them with a layer of wasabi, and finally spreads them with the ingredients. Depending on the type of topping, a piece of seaweed is sometimes used to tie the two together. Actually, in Japan, the word sushi refers to nigiri sushi, unless it is explained. ”

In Japan, sushi is divided into two major factions: first, Edo pie nigiri sushi; 2. Kansai piebox sushi.

In contrast, nigiri sushi is more favored by everyone, and the battlefield original family, who have studied nigiri sushi for generations, also makes Uncle Sawami quite proud of it, because it does not use any molds, and it is all hand-held by the sushi master, which can not only ensure the roundness of the rice particles, but also effectively maintain the mellow flavor of the rice.

Although box sushi is convenient and fast, it is also in a class of its own, and it cannot shake the status of nigiri, even in the whole field of cooking, nigiri sushi should be considered a very unique one, and the reason why Japanese sushi is famous all over the world is that it is made of this nigiri sushi. (To be continued......)