It comes in different forms. Sometimes it’s just sticky rice and a slice of raw fish, either salmon or tuna, or cooked, shelled prawns, octopus or cuttlefish pressed together to form a finger-shaped treat. Other times, nori, or pressed algae sheets, is rolled around the rice, with a sliver of raw fish in the middle. Occasionally, it comes in the form of cones, with the filling spilling out from the open end. And it’s not just seafood that is used to make the fillings. Vegetables such as cucumbers, different kinds of meat, eggs, fried bean curd, even fruits like mangoes can be used as ingredients in this popular Japanese delicacy. Some people say that it actually originated from the Chinese, as a way of preserving fish, but it is widely accepted that it was a Japanese vendor who made it extremely popular.
Yohei Hanasa, a street-food stall owner in nineteenth-century Tokyo, then called Edo, started selling hand-formed fingers of vinegared rice and raw fish to workers on a short break, travelers looking for something to eat or just about anyone who happened to be hungry. His products, called nigiri-zushi, roughly translated as “hand-formed rice snack” became so well liked that other vendors followed his lead, and nigiri-zushi stalls started popping up everywhere. Nowadays more commonly called “sushi”, it has become popular not only in Japan but also all around the world.
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