Sushi

To most people in Hong Kong, Sushi is nothing more than a rice ball topped with a piece of fish to be eaten with a touch of wasabi and sauce, unaware of that it has evolved through a history of about two thousand years. It is said to have originated in China, roughly between the second and fifth century AD, to become what it is today. At that time, fish was preserved by wrapping it with fermented rice after being marinated, whereby the lactic acid bacteria would work to prevent spoilage, which was known as narezushi whereas the fish was consumed and the fermented rice discarded, but later on it was consumed as a whole, which was referred to as namanarezushi. This was the most important style of sushi in the Muromachi Era. In the Edo period, people started making hayarezushi by stacking fish, rice, vinegar, vegetables and dried foods together to be consumed as a whole consisting of both the staple food (rice) and non-staple food (fish.) Hayarezushi was the first type of sushi without the fermented rice.
By the early 19th century, Edo (ancient name for Tokyo) street vendors set up mobile food stalls where they prepared sushi on the spot by kneading rice in the palm and shaping it into a long strip, then topping it with a slice of fish, which came to be known as nigirizushi, i.e. the prototype of sushi we enjoy today. The Great Kanto Earthquake took place in 1923, the sushi chefs fled Edo in all directions and spread the making and enjoyment of nigirizushi countrywide. Since then, nigirizushi has gone through different stages of enhancement and flourished to become a favorited national diet of the Japanese.

Recommended Shops

1) Sushi Moon
Address: Shop D-F, G/F, 2-12 Moon Street, Wan Chai
Telephone: 28111227/91666003

2) Sushi Namaken
Address: Shop A, 2/F, Hundred City Centre, 7-17 Amoy Street, Wan Chai
Telephone: 21171829

3) Sushi Jun
Address: 3/F, Tung Chiu Commercial Centre, 193 Lockhart Road, Wan Chai
Telephone: 37088198

4) Showa Shokudo
Address: Shop A, G/F, Times Tower, 391-407 Jaffe Road, Wan Chai
Telephone: 29888382