Sushi (すし, 寿司, 鮨, pronounced [sɯꜜɕi] or [sɯɕiꜜ]) is a Japanese dish of prepared vinegared rice (鮨飯 sushi-meshi), usually with some sugar and salt, accompanying a variety of ingredients (ネタ neta), such as seafood, vegetables, and occasionally tropical fruits. Styles of sushi and its presentation vary widely, but the one key ingredient is "sushi rice", also referred to as shari (しゃり), or sumeshi (酢飯). The term sushi is no longer used in its original context; it literally means "sour-tasting".

Sushi is traditionally made with medium-grain white rice, though it can be prepared with brown rice or short-grain rice. It is very often prepared with seafood, such as calamari, eel, or imitation crab meat. Many types of sushi are vegetarian. It is often served with pickled ginger (gari), wasabi, and soy sauce. Daikon radish or pickled daikon (takuan) are popular garnishments for the dish.

Sushi is sometimes confused with sashimi, a related dish in Japanese cuisine that consists of thinly sliced raw fish, or occasionally meat, and an optional serving of rice

Sushi originates in a Southeast Asian dish, known today as narezushi (馴れ寿司, 熟寿司 – "salted fish"), stored in fermented rice for possibly months at a time. The lacto-fermentation of the rice prevented the fish from spoiling; the rice would be discarded before consumption of the fish. This early type of sushi became an important source of protein for its Japanese consumers. The term sushi comes from an antiquated grammatical form no longer used in other contexts, and literally means "sour-tasting"; the overall dish has a sour and umami or savoury taste. Narezushi still exists as a regional specialty, notably as funa-zushi from Shiga Prefecture.


Osaka-style sushi, also called "Oshi-zushi" or "hako-sushi"
Vinegar began to be added to the preparation of narezushi in the Muromachi period (1336–1573) for the sake of enhancing both taste and preservation. In addition to increasing the sourness of the rice, the vinegar significantly increased the dish's longevity, causing the fermentation process to be shortened and eventually abandoned. The primitive sushi would be further developed in Osaka, where over several centuries it became oshi-zushi or "hako-zushi"; in this preparation, the seafood and rice were pressed into shape with wooden (typically bamboo) molds.

It was not until the Edo period (1603-1868) that fresh fish was served over vinegared rice and nori. The particular style of today's nigirizushi became popular in Edo (contemporary Tokyo) in the 1820s or 1830s. One common story of nigirizushi's origins is of the chef Hanaya Yohei (1799-1858), who invented or perfected the technique in 1824 at his shop in Ryōgoku. The dish was originally termed Edomae zushi as it used freshly caught fish from the Edo-mae (Edo or Tokyo Bay); the term Edomae nigirizushi is still used today as a by-word for quality sushi, regardless of its ingredients' origins.

The Oxford English Dictionary mistakenly notes the earliest written mention of sushi in English in an 1893 book, A Japanese Interior, where it mentions sushi as "a roll of cold rice with fish, sea-weed, or some other flavoring". However, there is an earlier mention of sushi in James Hepburn's Japanese-English dictionary from 1873, and an 1879 article on Japanese cookery in the journal Notes and Queries.



ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ　　　　　　　　　　　 　 .∥
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ　　　　　　　　　　　 　 .∥
　 　 ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ　 　 　　　＿__　　 .∥
　　　　ㅤ　ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ　 ／　　　 ｀ヽ ∥
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ　　　　　 ,:'　　　　　　､ゑ
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ　ㅤ　ㅤㅤㅤ　　　,'　　 　;　　i　 八､
ㅤㅤㅤ　ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ　　　　|,! 、 ,! | 　,' ,〃ヽ!;､ 　　
ㅤㅤㅤ　　ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ 　 　|!| ｌ川 l ﾘへ'==二二ト､ 　
　　ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ　ㅤ　ㅤㅤㅤㅤ　ﾘ川 !| i′　 ﾞ､　　　　', ', 　
　ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ　ㅤ　　　lﾙl ||,ﾚ′　　 ヽ　　　,ﾉ ,〉　
　　ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ　ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ　 　 |川'、　 ,,.,.r'"　 　 ,,ンﾞ 　
　　　　ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ　ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ　　　｀T"　 ! ,/ '.ﾉ,/｜　 　
　　　　　　ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ　　 / 　 ,!´　!ﾞヾ{　|
ㅤㅤㅤㅤ　 　 　 　ㅤㅤㅤ 　ㅤㅤㅤㅤ　/ 　 ,' 　 i　ﾞ　! ,lﾞ
　　ㅤㅤㅤㅤ　　ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ　　,r‐'ヽ-､!　　 ',　　l｜　
ㅤㅤㅤㅤ　ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ　　　ㅤ　 {　　　 ｀ヽ　　 !　 ｢ﾞﾌ 　　
　 　ㅤㅤㅤㅤ　ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ　　,>┬―／　　 ;　 i,｀{ 　　
ㅤㅤㅤ　ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ　ㅤ　　　/ /ﾘ川'　 　 　 　 ', ﾞ､
　　ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ　 ／ ,/　　　 　 　 　 　 ﾞ､ ﾞ、 　
ㅤㅤㅤ　ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ　 ノ 　/　　　　　　　　　　　', ｀､ 　
　ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ　 ＼_/　　 ;　　　　　　　　　 ﾞ、ヽ、
　　ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ　　l__　　 !　　　　　　　 _＿_〕
　　　ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ　ㅤㅤㅤ　 ￣｀‐┬―r┬‐r'´　｀'‐'′
　　 　 　 ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ　ㅤㅤㅤ 　　|　　.! |　 |
　　 　 　 　 　ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ　ㅤㅤㅤ|　　| .|　 |