Sushi in the U.S. Sushi

SUSHI IN THE U.S. Sushi is one of the most sought-after elite foods in the U.S. And is one clear sign of Japanese influence on American eating habits. Once seen as a method to reduce the smell of raw fish, Sushi has come a long way as it is now a must-have item on many upscale restaurants in the U.S. "Sushi marries the flavor of vinegared rice to the clean flavor of fresh raw fish and shellfish. The rice is deftly shaped into bite-sized 'fingers'.

seasoned with a dab of zesty wasabi horseradish, and covered by a strip of choice seafood...Sushi originated as a way of preserving tuna, or curcian, a kind of carp. The fish was salted and allowed to mature on a bed of vinegared rice, after which the rice was discarded. Long before vinegared rice came to be eaten together with the fish and many different combination and ways of serving them evolved." (Tsuji, p. 285-288) Many believe that sushi entered the U.S.

with the cultural changes of 1970s but there is definitely more to the history of sushi than meets the eye. Sushi probably came to the U.S. through the Pacific route and hence was first introduced to the western coast. It was some time in 1950s that a trading company by the name of Mutual Trading Company decided to introduce Japanese cuisine to Caucasian-Americans.

However MTC realized that if it adopted the retail route, it would take a long time -- at least 25 years and hence they found it easier and faster to "… introduce Japanese foods through the restaurant trade because then the Americans could taste the foods that had already been prepared and served, in the way they were intended to be, by Japanese chefs." It is believed that an American by the name of Mr. Wolff had once visited Japan and he fell in love with sushi.

It was with his inspiration and support that a man named Mr. Kanai decided to open restaurants serving Japanese food in the U.S. And this led to the opening of the first sushi bar. "The first sushi bar in Southern California was Kawafuku restaurant, started in 1966 in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles. It was owned by Mr. Nakajima and the chefs were Mr. And Mrs. Shigeo Saito." The sushi bar was a huge success and led to many young chefs seeking entry into the U.S.

The problem of lack of chefs was finally solved: "They made a fortune of $30,000. Upon returning to Tokyo, they started a sushi restaurant in Ginza. Word of Kawafuku's success spread quickly in Japan, starting a flood of young Japanese sushi chefs to the U.S.A." Slowly but consistently sushi became a sought after item in California restaurants and one after the other, sushi bars began mushrooming in the state.

The one question that many would ask is why America was so keen to accept sushi and why suddenly Americans were ready to try something that was exclusively Japanese. Consumers' demand of the product also resulted in good business opportunity. "From the consumers' viewpoint, it's a novel cultural experience which is both interesting and fun -- rapport with the chef.

The food tastes great, is not easy to make at home, and is healthy." From the business viewpoint, sushi bars appeared highly profitable option because it "… requires special skills which are difficult for others to copy." To make the most authentic version of sushi in Japan, Mr. Kanai began importing material and sushi chefs from Japan. This worked perfectly well for this exotic food item as very soon sushi became part of almost every chic American restaurant.

The reason for this was simple: Americans were looking for something new and healthier compared to their own overly greasy cuisine and sushi stepped in at just the right time to catch their attention. Today sushi is an essential item but it has been thoroughly Americanized to meet the needs and taste of its adopted country. In fact now the trend has reversed so there are now sushi bars in Japan serving Americanized version of sushi which is considered the "in" item in Japan as everything else that is American.

"Sushi has evolved here in the United States. Sushi has come into its own style and culture here, and in some places it's almost considered as American as apple pie. Crazy combinations of ingredients can be found inside sushi rolls, with bizarre names like the Caterpillar roll, Spider roll and Surf's Up roll. But beyond the crazy names and ingredients, the style of sushi has changed.

American sushi has taken on a decidedly western technique when it comes to sushi creation, adding area-specific ingredients and changing the shape, size and presentation format laid out by Japanese inventors." Sushi has thus come a long way since its early days in the U.S. From a novelty item that only few knew about and even fewer could taste, it has developed into such a mammoth product that it can alone run a restaurant. This is very interesting.

In the California area, you will see the most numbers of sushi bars and they offer such intricate varieties that even Japanese would find them new and unique. California roll is for example a specialty which is served all over the U.S. But emerged from the Golden state as it experimented with differently styles and types of sushi wraps and fillings. Author of "The Zen of Fish," Trevor Corson traces the history of sushi in the U.S.

And finds out the sushi became popular as Hollywood stars were introduced to it and most of them embraced it willingly. That explains the elite almost "celebrity" like status of this Japanese item. He also focuses on the spread of sushi through sushi academy. It was in 1980s that sushi became popular enough to have trained sushi chefs in the U.S. that's when a man named Toshi Sugiura opened first sushi academy in California. "Toshi was a pioneer of American sushi.

He had started serving sushi in Los Angeles in 1978, before most Americans had even heard of it. Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, Toshi's sushi bar and restaurant -- Hama Venice, in Venice Beach, just south of Santa Monica -- had been one of.