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10 Weird Facts You Didn’t Know About Sushi

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Only 25 years ago, people viewed sushi as an exotic delicacy. This out of the box satisfying meal has become a worldwide sensation. On almost every street corner across America, you’ll find sushi restaurants filled with customers.

Maybe you’re a sushi addict? If you think you know everything there is to know about sushi, we’ve got surprises in store for you.

Read on for some unexpected, interesting, and weird facts about sushi.

1. Surprising Sushi History

Sushi started in Japan, right? Actually, it didn’t! Contrary to widespread belief, it’s believed that sushi began in South East Asia.

Nare-zushi, sour rice wrapped around fermented fish, supposedly originated around the Mekong River. Later, the fishy treat circulated throughout China and Japan.

After spreading through Japan in the mid-1800’s, Hanaya Yohei took inspiration from the ancient cuisine and adapted it to create the modern-day sushi that we all know and love.

2. Perfect the Art

How long does it take to become a sushi chef or Itamae? It can take more than 10 years of training, sometimes even 20 years!

Trainees start at the bottom, using their time cleaning and attending to small kitchen duties. As time goes on, they are then taught to make the sushi rice. Much later, they begin to work on the cutting board.

Why does it take so long to learn the tricks of the trade?

Initially, the rice needs to be perfect. It needs to be sticky enough so that it doesn’t fall apart before eating but should separate into individual grains once put into the mouth. It’s all to do with the amount of pressure when packing the layers but is much easier said than done.

If you’re interested in perfecting the art of authentic sushi making, take in-depth sushi classes for a thorough period of training.

3. A Poisonous Dish

Some sushi chefs go through further training to create Fugu or pufferfish sushi. This odd-looking fish contains lethal amounts of poison. A simple slip of a knife could kill the one eating it.

These chefs go through a rigorous training process and then must eat their own product at the end. Several deaths have occurred during the final exams. In fact, for centuries the Emporer of Japan was banned from eating the risky dish Fugu!

4. McDonald’s, KFC, Burger King…Sushi?

Today, many people regard sushi as a high-end meal. Originally, however, it was a fast food enjoyed by common Merchants during the 1600’s.

Sushi was so common that some even enjoyed it as a snack when visiting the theater. Who needs popcorn when you’ve got sushi?

By the 1800’s sushi was a widespread fast food in Tokyo sold in inexpensive sushi stands. Eventually, restaurants opened to follow the food standards applied by the government.

Have you ever seen a greasy looking diner and decided to go somewhere else? Well in sushi’s early days, the dirtier and greaser the better! How so?

In a sushi shop, a “noren,” or fabric divider hung on the door of the shop. Customers would wipe their hands on the noren as they left the restaurant. A grimy curtain made the restaurant more desirable, as it meant that it had many satisfied customers.

5. Sushi Refinements

Over the years sushi has changed to create the dish we well know and love today.

For instance, originally, diners threw away the rice instead of eating it. The purpose of the fermented rice was to preserve the fish and prevent it from becoming spoiled. Over the years the time left for fermenting decreased, and more people began eating the rice.

The seaweed, nori, was originally scraped off wooden pier legs or the underside of scummy boats. The pungent seaweed was then dried in the sun and used to wrap the sushi. Due to safety reasons today, nori is cultivated and farmed in hygienic conditions.

Although people began eating sushi in the 1600’s, salmon sushi wasn’t invented until the 1980’s. This is due to the fact that Norwegians brought sushi to Japan during that time.

6. Mind Your Manners

Are you used to unauthentic Western supermarket sushi? How do you eat sushi in Japan?

While you’re supposed to eat sashimi (raw slices of fish) with chopsticks, you should use your hands to eat all other types of sushi. The sushi parcels are bite-size, meant for you to consume them in one mouthful.

You should also eat sushi in color order, from light to dark. This is because the lighter pieces of fish are less strong in flavor, whereas the darker pieces are so strong that they leave an aftertaste. Yet, if you opted for chefs choice, you should eat in the order presented to you.

At the end of an authentic sushi experience, the etiquette is to buy the chef a shot and drink one with him. If declined, don’t offer money. Bow politely and leave.

7. The Deal with the Sushi Train

Not many menus offer their food on a rotating conveyor belt. Why does sushi?

In 1958 Yoshiaki Shiraishi invented the Kaitenzushi. He was initially inspired by observing beer bottles on a conveyor belt. He had problems staffing his small sushi restaurant and a conveyor belt meant he needed fewer waiters.

8. The Cutting Edge

Legend state that sushi chefs use knives that are the direct descendants of samurai swords. They also believe that they have to sharpen the blade daily.

A sushi chef should only sharpen one side of a traditional sushi knife. The other flat side of the blade can create a finer edge when cutting fish.

9. Gold Plated Fish

The most expensive sushi in the world is by Angelito Araneta Jr, in the Philipines, at a price of almost $2000. They actually hold the Guinness world record for the highest priced sushi ever!

The sushi roll consists of common ingredients initially, pink salmon from Norway and foie gras. Instead of wrapping them in seaweed, the wrapping is a 24-carat gold leaf and has a few Palawan pearls and 20-carat diamonds sprinkled on top!

10. International Sushi day

Yes, we all love a celebration! On June 1st every year is International Sushi Day! The celebration began in 2009 so that Sushi lovers from around the world could show their appreciation for the unique dish.

Keep Calm and Eat Sushi

So you thought you were a sushi expert? These weird and wonderful facts about sushi have educated you on the bizarre, yet well-loved dish.

For more unusual world facts and weird news, check out our blog!

Weirdomatic is the place where all weird things come to life through the amazing world of photographs – a corner of our wild imagination or the whimsical face of the reality?


Source: https://weirdomatic.com/10-weird-facts-you-didnt-know-about-sushi.html


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