Sushi

Sushi (すし, 寿司, 鮨) is a Japanese food consisting of cooked vinegared rice (鮨飯, sushi-meshi) combined with other ingredients (ネタ, neta), raw uncooked seafood, vegetables and sometimes tropical fruits. Ingredients and forms of sushi presentation vary widely, but the ingredient which all sushi have in common is rice (also referred to as shari (しゃり) or sumeshi (酢飯)).

Sushi can be prepared with either brown or white rice. It is often prepared with raw seafood, but some common varieties of sushi use cooked ingredients or are vegetarian. Raw fish (or occasionally other meat) sliced and served without rice is called "sashimi". Sushi is often served with pickled ginger (ガリ gari), wasabi, and soy sauce. Popular garnishes are often made using daikon.

History

The original type of sushi, known today as nare-zushi (馴れ寿司, 熟寿司,) was first made in Southeast Asia, maybe along what is also known as the Mekong River. The term sushi comes from an antiquated grammatical form no longer used in other contexts, and literally means "sour-tasting", a reflection of its historic origin as a fermented food. The oldest form of sushi in Japan, narezushi, is still made by wrapping fish in soured fermenting rice, which causes the fish proteins to break down into their constituent amino acids. The fermenting rice and fish have both a sour and an umami taste.