Japanese immigrants, Edomae sushi, deep fried seafood
Sushi has a very long history, first mentioned in a compiled dictionary in China by 2nd Century AD, where it is described as salted fish meat in rice. Some authors; however argue that sushi originated from South East Asia back in the 4th Century AD, but there is still no clarity whether rice was barely unpolished or polished like it is today. The sushi that many Americans are familiar with today that is vinegary rice topped with raw fish and shellfish, developed in Edo, now Tokyo in the early 19th century. The first sushi was served in America at a sushi bar in very Little Tokyo, L.A in 1963. The sushi chef used avocado instead of tuna while making the rolls, which fascinated the Japanese immigrants who were not accustomed to eating raw fish. Since then, the sushi has adopted various ingredients such as tempura, cream cheese, as well as deep fried seafood. The first sushi prepared American style has since spread all over United States. Additionally, many sushi restaurants in Japan now offer new sushi varieties like the California roll, popularly known as American-born sushi.
Japanese traditional sushi is known as "Edomae sushi," a term that has now changed to "seafood from Tokyo bay." Sushi vendors prepared the seafood from Tokyo bay with sweet vinegar rice and dried seaweed, which they were selling in moving carts during the 1800's. Sushi spread to the rest of Japan because of the Great Kanto Earthquake, which forced the vendors to leave the ruins of Tokyo.
[...] Cultural Politics of Food and Eating: a Reader. Jennings, T. (2009). Sushi in America vs. sushi in Japan. Retrieved from http://voices.yahoo.com/sushi-america-vs-sushi-japan-4604191.html SushiNow.com. (2010). Sushi history and sushi today. Retrieved from http://sushinow.com/history.htm Sushiencyclopedia.com. (2007). History of sushi. [...]
[...] Japanese has been using bamboo mats and wooden utensils for the food business instead of utensils that can easily be cleaned. To avoid the health hazard associated with handling of sushi, equipment used in preparing sushi must be clean and sanitized. It is recommended that prior to preparation, the equipment that is exposed to the sushi and its ingredients must be sanitized. Additionally, retail display for sushi must not be at greater temperatures and for longer hours. For instance, recommended temperature is not greater than 50 for more than four hours. [...]
[...] The early Japanese immigrants and their American-born children first treated sushi as a picnic food. They cooked the ingredients, which was similar with the Kansai-style of sushi from the western part of Japan where most immigrants trace their roots. The non-Japanese population in California however found the premise of raw fish and rice unappealing when the sushi alongside other Japanese foods became available in major centers during the early 20th century with Japanese immigration and settlement in the 1920s. The sushi popularity began to grow among the non-Japanese population in the 1970s attributed to the rise of japan into the global economic stage, which led to increased number of ambitious Japanese chefs arriving into California. [...]
[...] However, the phenomenon of American sushi have largely been overlooked, perhaps due to its consumption in Japan, an aspect elided to the context of globalization theory. Transformation of sushi demonstrates a transnational cultural interaction where a hybrid cultural commodity returns to the origin to be re-hybridized. Sushi, once existed globally in an identical format, has changed itself and got different forms and meanings across the borders. It is outright that the image of America, specifically California, is powerful to Japanese consumers with a sense of adventure. [...]
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