Sushi making has its origins in a method of pickling fish that was practiced first in Southeast Asia. Long ago the people of that region preserved fish by packing it with rice. As it fermented, the rice produced lactic acid, which pickled the fish and kept it from spoiling. It seems probable that this method of preservation was introduced to Japan during ancient times.
One of the forms it eventually took was nare-zushi, a sushi made with carp in the area near Lake Biwa. Only the fish was eaten; the rice was thrown away.
Preparing nare-zushi can take from two months to more than a year. People in fifteenth and sixteenth century Japan came to think this king of preparation represented a waste of rice. They didn’t want to waste such a valuable grain, and this led in time to the development of nama-nare or han-nare, which matures in a few days. Eating both fish and rice dates from this period.
In the mid-seventeenth century, a doctor named Matsumoto Yoshiichi, who lived in Yotsuta, Edo, hit upon the idea of adding su (Japanese vinegar) to sushi ride. The resulting sourness was pleasing, and the waiting time before eating the sushi was substantially reduced. Still, it was not eaten right away in keeping with the cooking practices of the time, the rice and fish were boxed or rolled up before consumption.
In the early nineteenth century, nigiri-zushi was born in the city of Edo. It is often referred to as Edomae-zushi, possibly because the seafood used was taken from the waters of the large bay of which the city is situated.
In 1824 a man named Hanaya Yohei conceived the ideo of sliced, raw seafood at its freshest served on small fingers of vinegared rice, and instant improvement on the older sushi dishes. He opened a stall in the Ryogoku district of Edo and it was immediately a success.
The sushi shops of Edo period (1603-1868) looked very little like the ones of today. For one thing, the cook worked seated behind a screen. Still, there are some similarities. There was often a raised tatami-floored section for a small number of guests, as there are in some modern shops. Back then also sushi was delivered, but not as it is today. In those days men walked around selling it from large boxes carried on their backs.
