Sushi is one of the most beloved foods on the planet: clean, precise, and endlessly varied, from a supermarket California roll to an omakase counter. June 18 is National Sushi Day, a fine excuse to eat some, learn a little, and maybe roll your own.
It started with preservation
Sushi began not as a fresh food but as a preservation method. Centuries ago in Southeast Asia and Japan, fish was packed in fermented rice to keep it edible; the rice was thrown away and the fish eaten. Over time the rice itself became the point, and by the 1800s in Edo, now Tokyo, fast, fresh nigiri, a slice of fish over seasoned rice, became popular street food.
The word sushi actually refers to the vinegared rice, not the fish. That is why there is vegetarian sushi, cooked sushi, and countless rolls that have no raw fish at all.
Know your rice
Ask any sushi chef and they will tell you the rice matters as much as the fish. Good sushi rice is short-grain, cooked properly, and seasoned with a blend of rice vinegar, sugar, and salt while still warm. It should be at body temperature, tender but distinct, and just sticky enough to hold together. Bad rice ruins even great fish.
If you take one thing from today, let it be respect for the rice. It is the foundation everything else sits on.
Roll your own
Making maki at home is genuinely fun and does not require raw fish. Lay a sheet of nori on a bamboo mat, spread a thin layer of seasoned rice, add fillings like cucumber, avocado, cooked shrimp, crab, or smoked salmon, and roll it up snugly using the mat. Wet a sharp knife between cuts for clean slices.
Do not overfill, the classic beginner mistake, and keep a bowl of water nearby for your hands. Your first roll may look rustic; your fifth will look great.
Or eat out well
If you would rather leave it to the pros, today is the day to visit a sushi restaurant you trust. Sit at the counter if you can and talk to the chef about what is good. Try one thing you have never ordered. Skip drowning everything in soy sauce; a light touch, fish-side down, lets you actually taste the fish. And go easy on the wasabi at a good bar, since the chef has often already seasoned the piece exactly as intended.
How to celebrate
- 1Respect the rice
Sushi chefs will tell you the rice matters as much as the fish. Use short-grain rice, season it warm with a blend of rice vinegar, sugar, and salt, and serve it at body temperature. Good rice is the foundation everything else sits on.
- 2Roll your own maki
Making rolls at home is fun and needs no raw fish. Spread a thin layer of seasoned rice on nori over a bamboo mat, add cucumber, avocado, cooked shrimp, or smoked salmon, and roll snugly. Do not overfill, which is the classic beginner mistake.
- 3Go easy on the soy and wasabi
Dip fish-side down and lightly; drowning a piece in soy sauce overwhelms it. At a good sushi bar, the chef has often already seasoned each piece, so taste before you reach for extra wasabi.
- 4Sit at the counter
If you are eating out, sit at the sushi counter and talk to the chef about what is freshest that day. Order one thing you have never tried. Watching each piece made to order is the best way to eat sushi.
- 5Keep a wet, sharp knife
If you are slicing rolls at home, use a sharp knife and wipe and wet the blade between cuts. A clean, damp blade gives you tidy slices instead of squashing the roll and smearing the rice.