More and more fellow countrymen are opting for an exotic faraway vacation. World cuisine is therefore getting closer and closer. Japanese cuisine is also gaining more and more foothold here. His reputation for healthy cuisine is no stranger to this. When you say Japanese cuisine, you will undoubtedly think of sushi, the most famous dish from the land of the rising sun. What exactly is sushi, and which tips do we prefer to take into account to make our homemade sushi a real treat?
Special way of storing fish
If we want to know the origins of sushi, we have to take the time machine to the fifteenth century. The origins of sushi lie in a special way of preserving fish, which originated in Japan centuries ago. Raw fish was then pressed between salt and fermented with rice. This fermentation, in which all kinds of lactic acid bacteria are released, gave the rice its typically sour taste, still the hallmark of sushi. With this method they wanted to preserve the then very precious food as long as possible. The fermented fish was only ready for consumption after a few months. Gradually, this fermentation process was abandoned and it was decided to add vinegar. From this new storage method, the Nigri Sushi born, currently the most famous (and eaten) sushi variety among us.
Working class food
From the early nineteenth century, sushi was widely produced in Japan, as food for the working class, who found the necessary energy to handle their daily hard work.
Sushi is not the same as raw fish
Most of us still think of sushi as raw fish. Wrongly, because sushi and raw fish are not the same at all. Raw fish is in Japanese sashimi. These raw fish slices are mainly processed with leafy vegetables (shisu) and summer window ash (daiko) served. Sushi is prepared with all kinds of ingredients, so that there are many different types of sushi.
Fish, rice and vegetables as a basis
If sushi isn’t raw fish as most of us still think, what is sushi? Rice, raw fish and all kinds of vegetables are the main ingredients of sushi. First and foremost, it is a particularly healthy snack, which fits perfectly within it low-fat, Japanese diet. It should come as no surprise that the majority of the world’s oldest people live on this Asian island.
Healthy snacks
Satisfying a great hunger with sushi is impossible. These particularly colorful snacks are therefore almost exclusively used as healthy snacks, rarely if ever as a full meal. The fact that we don’t need plates or cutlery to eat sushi is another advantage of another order.
Salmon, tuna, shrimp and … our imagination
A limited number of ingredients are usually used in the preparation of sushi, but it certainly does not have to be. In the preparation of sushi, we must first and foremost our imagination let speak. The Japanese swear by the choice of fish salmon, tuna, and all kinds of white fish. In recent years, the use of shrimps more popular. We only use when preparing our sushi sea fish. Freshwater fish can do a lot parasites contain, and is therefore certainly not suitable for eating raw.
Vegetables very important
In addition to fish, all kinds of vegetables form the basis of our sushi. Especially cucumber, avocado, tomatoes, pumpkins and Japanese mushrooms (shitakes) are used the most. Fried eggs also belong to sushi. Especially an omelette is easy to cut into strips. In principle, all types of rice are eligible for sushi. Preferably choose one sticky rice type, it holds the whole together perfectly. Japanese sticky rice that we find on all store shelves is best suited for this. We must rinse our rice thoroughly beforehand. We do this until the trickling water is completely clear.
Different types of sushi
The Japanese mainly know four different types of sushi. However, the basis is always the same. The rice is prepared with a kind of vinaigrette consisting of rice vinegar, salt and sugar. We flavor all this with a spicy Japanese sauce (wasabi). We mainly leave further finishing to our imagination.
- Maki sushi: For this sushi we fill a seaweed leaf with the prepared rice, which we cover with small strips of seafood, vegetables and omelette.
- Fukusa sushi: This is a mixed sushi, where we roll the prepared rice in a wafer-thin omelette.
- Inari sushi: Fried sushi.
- Nigri sushi: This is served in most sushi bars. It is therefore the simplest form of sushi. We knead the sushi rice into cubes and cover it with all kinds of white fish, seafood and vegetables. Usually only one type of fish is used per sushi.
- Oshi sushi: Pressed snacks of fish, rice and salt. These pressed snacks are closest to the original sushi’s.
- Temaki: Just like magri, very easy to make yourself. We make seaweed cones, which we fill with rice and the other ingredients.
Extra touch with rice vinegar
To make real sushi rice from our rice, we add a mixture of rice vinegar, sugar and salt to the cooked rice. This mixture gives our sushi its characteristic sweet and sour taste and a bright shine. We let the mixture of rice vinegar, sugar and salt dissolve over a low heat. The whole should not boil. We add this mixture to our rice while stirring. Before we serve the rice, let it cool down well.
Sushi facts
Making sushi yourself is not difficult. Nevertheless, in order to accomplish this successfully, we need to know the different Japanese terms:
- Wasabi: Sweet rice wine, only suitable for cooking. Can possibly be replaced by a mixture of sake and sugar.
- Mirin: Japanese rice wine.
- Nori: thin sheets of dried and edible seaweed. Seaweed is necessary for the preparation of maki and temaki sushi.
- Gari: these thin slices of dried ginger neutralize the different flavors of our sushi.