 
ロンドンＪＥＴＲＯによって、小生の著作sushi basicsがブックレットになりました。
この本の趣旨は、鮨を衛生面でとらえ、日本の鮨がいかに衛生を基本として作られているかを、
他の諸本とは違った角度で見つめ、欧米諸国ですし調理に携わっている調理師のために作ら
れたブックレットです。
本文は米国の、フード新聞 フードジャーナルＵ.Ｓ.Ａ紙にも2003年に紹介されております。
尚文章の一部は、さかえ寿司のホームページにも掲載されています。
Basics of Sushi
A manuscript written in Japan in the 10th century stated that sushi, which literally means "
sour," was a combination of fermented fish and rice for a preserved food. The current
Tokyo style sushi, which is a rice ball seasoned with vinegar and topped with a piece of
sliced seafood, was not developed until the beginning of the 19th century. At the time, sushi
was a fast food, prepared and sold at kiosk style shops, as shown in the illustration here.
Toppings were heated or marinated for sanitation purpose.
It was, however, a local food available only in Tokyo, while there were many other types of
sushi in each region. In the 1950s, the development of refrigeration made Tokyo style sushi
popular nationwide, and the word "sushi" has nowadays come to mean Tokyo style sushi.
In the U.S., the sushi boom began among Americans in the middle of the 1970s and rolls
have become Americans' favorite type of sushi. As an old saying advocates, "When in Rome,
do as the Romans," sushi has evolved to meet Americans' tastes in America. Quite a few
sushi restaurants in Tokyo now serve American rolls.
Even under such circumstances, operators and chefs of sushi restaurants should realize the
basics of sushi for the orderly development of the sushi industry.
Here is an article, titled "Basics of Sushi," which was written by Masayoshi Kazato. He is
the owner of an authentic sushi restaurant in Japan and also the vice president of the
International Department of the Sushi Restaurant Association in Japan. He wrote it as a
draft for his speech made last March at the Le Cordon Bleu, a leading culinary school in
England.
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Concept of Japanese Cuisine
The concept of Japanese cuisine is to draw out the natural flavor of each ingredient at its
best and Japanese cooking techniques have been developed to meet and support this idea.
It is the complete opposite of French cuisine, which boasts of its elaborate harmony of
seasonings.
We select the best, seasonal ingredients in each season and prepare them when they are
fresh for their best flavor. The procedure is applied to any ingredients, but professional
chefs are especially careful about selecting and preparing seafood, because their quality
deteriorates very fast and people eat them raw.
Cooking Techniques of Japanese Cuisine
Now, I will discuss our cooking techniques to prepare delicious food without adding
seasonings:
Yubiki (Pouring hot water): Skin of red snapper and sea bass are very flavorful. So, we make
a dish of those fish with their skin on. After eliminating the bones and intestines, we pour
hot water over the skin and then cool the whole piece with its skin in cold water. Yubiki is
also effective for safety because the skin may be polluted with the bacteria in seawater.
Aburi (Searing): For some fish like katsuo (skipjack tuna), we sear the whole gutted fish until
its skin is scorched, and then cool it in cold water. We don't want to discard the skin
because the fatty part underneath the skin is very flavorful. Searing also functions to
prevent possible bacteria pollution.
Arai (Washing): The arai technique is applied to sea bass, which becomes fatty and flavorful
in summer, and carp, which lives in freshwater. After bleeding a live fish and cleaning it
(eliminating intestines and bones), we make thin slices and then wash them in cold water to
reduce the unnecessary fat content. The sliced pieces are served with a dipping sauce of
miso and vinegar.
Sujime (Marinating with vinegar): We apply this technique to small fish and fish with shiny
skin like mackerel. We sprinkle salt lightly over the cleaned meat (with skin). When the meat
becomes tight, we wash and dip it in vinegar. After a certain time, tiny bones become softer
and chewable. Fish caught near the seashore are sometimes polluted by bacteria when
temperature of seawater is comparatively high, so marinating them with vinegar is a good
way to pasteurize them.
These cooking techniques have widely been used in Japan to draw out, retain, and
emphasize the natural flavor of fish. And they are indispensable for sushi preparation.
Hygienic Aspects of Sushi
Japanese cooking needs condiments which help to draw out the natural flavor of ingredients
so that we may serve dishes at their best flavor. The main ones are soy sauce, vinegar,
miso, and sake, which are Japanese original condiments. While they are important to
Japanese cuisine, we have more role players in the sushi business:
Gari (Sushi ginger): Gari contains an element to prevent food poisoning. Pickled sushi - fish,
vegetables, and rice, a local food in the Hokkaido and Tohoku areas - is packaged with
ginger and bamboo leaves.
Bamboo leaves: Bamboo leaves prevent putrefaction. When vegetables are kept in a
bamboo basket, the period of time they can be eaten gets longer. So, bamboo baskets have
been used as a tool for preservation as well as for transportation. When bamboo leaves are
used as a partition in a package of sushi, they function as an antiseptic.
Soy sauce is a condiment and a preservative. Zuke (tuna soaked in soy sauce for hours)
was developed for preservation when refrigeration was not available. Soy sauce also
instantly kills food poisoning bacteria like coliform.
Vinegar, which is absolutely necessary for sushi, works well for pasteurizing any bacteria.
Wasabi is an important condiment for raw fish. In addition, when raw fish is kept with wasabi
in a refrigerator, the freshness of fish is maintained longer. When bacteria-polluted food and
wasabi are kept together in a sealed package, the bacteria dies. Wasabi is a good sterilizer.
(Editor's note: The writer must be talking about real wasabi. The wasabi which most sushi
restaurants in the U.S. are using is made from horseradish.)
Sushi box: Another important role player for the sushi business is the sushi box, which is
made mostly of sheets of cedar. In Japan, when many people or things are packed tightly in
a small place like canned sardines, the situation is described as "sushi zume (pack)." For
take-out, sushi is packed very tightly in a box. The purpose of the tight packing is the
pasteurization effect of vinegar. The fish topping on top of the rice ball is pasteurized by the
vinegar in the rice and bacteria doesn't grow there. And the upper surface of the topping,
pressed against the lid of the box, doesn't contact air, so propagation of bacteria is
prevented.
Above all, I want you to realize that a lot of knowledge was accumulated over years by
Japanese so as to maintain good quality of sushi and protect its safety.
Knife: Our cooking knives are of the same quality as samurai swords, although samurai
swords had a double edged blade and cooking knives have a single edge blade. A deba knife
is used for boning. A yanagiba knife is good for slicing. We always hone knives well before
using them. The blade needs to be sharp and its surfaces needs to be smooth, so that the
knife will never damage the fish meat even with micro scratches (see pictures here).
Scientific studies show that quality deterioration and oxidation of fish is delayed and
propagation of bacteria is restrained when fish is prepared with good knives by a skilled
chef. The quality of Japanese cuisine depends on the skill of the chef in using knives.
Cutting board: We use several types of cutting boards - one for cleaning fish; one for slicing
fish; one for cutting vegetables; and so forth.
Good skill in handling knives may bring out the natural flavor of the ingredients in a sanitary
condition.
Why Do Japanese Eat Raw Fish?
The Japanese islands stretch geographically over a long distance from Hokkaido in the north
to Okinawa in the south. In May and June, we have a rainy season and humidity is
extremely high. Mold may grow on the surface of food within a day. Why do Japanese eat
raw fish, which deteriorates in quality quickly, in spite of these disadvantageous climate
conditions? Because they want to enjoy the natural flavor of good quality fish which is
available anywhere in Japan. Sashimi is a typical dish in this regard. Soy sauce and wasabi
make the good flavor of sashimi even more flavorful. The basic concept of Japanese cuisine
is to let those eating appreciate the natural flavor of ingredients.
The most important ingredient in Japan is rice. Farmers and government agencies
cooperate to improve strains of rice. Japanese rice is outstanding among all rice varieties
available in the world in terms of flavor and natural sweetness. Japanese people eat
Japanese rice and raw fish together in a simple way. Combination of the two flavors makes
each more flavorful - that is sushi.
With our culinary skill, we eliminate bacteria while at the same time we maintain the
freshness of ingredients. From the time we select the ingredients until our customers eat
our dishes, we pay full attention to control the freshness of ingredients with our knowledge
of sanitation. Sushi is a food to be enjoyed by people who have good taste buds and know
what good food is.
When the culinary skills for Japanese cuisine and French cuisine are combined, all cuisines in
the world may be changed. Actually, chefs of most prominent restaurants are now aware of
the basics of Japanese cuisine.
Sushi is not mere rice balls topped with seafood, but a food prepared by skilled chefs who
keep their ingredients in good hygienic condition. From this point of view, sushi is one of the
safest foods in the world.
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