My Sushi Journey
For my school masterwork, I decided that I wanted to research sushi, at the time it was just comforting food, I would get very simple sushi at restaurants and enjoy it with my family, as I dove deeper into sushi my love for it became much stronger, for me sushi was a gateway into complex food, as a kid I had always been super picky sushi not only made me try to fish for the first time but showed me that my default everyday food was not the only food I would like. One of my fondest memories that are connected to sushi was me and my dad going to Ryoku's a sushi place in SF. It was not only a new experience but also showed me how good sushi could truly be. Over the last few months, I have been practicing making sushi and learning a lot about sushi history. I have made things like uramaki (Inside out or rice on the outside) spicy salmon avocado rolls. More than anything though, I had a good time and enjoyed something I love.
The History of Sushi
Sushi has a complicated history that does not always start in one spot, many argue about when it truly started, but I will do my best to create an accurate timeline. Sushi was invented 3rd and 5th centuries BC. It wasn't the way it is today, in fact, it was completely different. Sushi was a method of preserving fish, they used fermented rice to preserve the fish. Sushi originated in China but spread to Japan in the 7th century. Much later in the 16th century, people discovered that using vinegared rice would work, it not only sped up the process but also made the sushi taste better. In the 19th century a man named Hanaya Yohei changed the history of sushi. He started no longer wrapping fish with rice, but only putting it on the bottom, this made it so sushi could be eaten much quicker. This formed Nigiri sushi and it still effects the way we eat it today. After WW2 sushi was changed a lot too, after the war, western cultures adopted sushi and help spread it to the rest of the world. Sushi soon spread to the rest of the world to be as popular as it is today.
Sources
https://www.eat-japan.com/sushi-perfect/sushi-knwo...
The Sushi I Made
Overall, I didn't make very exotic sushi, I made pretty simple sushi, but for me it was super hard. I learned how to make inside out sushi roles. I learned how to fry Tamago in a pan, and how to cut fish and make nigiri, above are a few of pictures from my sushi making experience.