But a growing number of westerners are discovering these eastern delicacies, which have been staple food in Japan for centuries. Why are more and more people willing to eat their seafood in the raw? One possible answer is that many pieces of sushi are not raw, but rather cooked, smoked or marinated.
Still, most folks who eat at sushi bars will try a raw cut or two, possibly because the food's beauty is so enticing. When arrayed on a platter and served with artful garnishes, the nuggets of fish and rice look for all the world like an offering of precious jewels in glistening hues of topaz, ruby and pearly white.
To many, the cost for this finger food puts it in the same luxury category as gemstones. At about $3 to $4 for a two-piece serving, a meal for one person can cost $30. The high price coupled with the exotic flair may be one reason sushi has caught on as a "yuppie" food.
But a true connoisseur, a sushi tsu, will tell you the real reason he eats sushi is undefinable. It's both a taste and dining experience, a challenge to pick the freshest catch that day and a spirited communion with the chef at the bar.
This fascination with bite-sized bundles of rice and fish all started centuries ago with a little fermentation.
Where did sushi come from?
Most sources agree that what we know today as sushi originated as a way to preserve fish. According to the Illustrated Encyclopedia of Japan, the method actually arose in ancient China. Salted fish (usually carp) packed in rice was fermented for up to a year before the rice was thrown away and the fish served.
Eventually the pickling process crossed the waters to Japan, where it was modified through time. By the 1800s, chefs began to use vinegar to approximate the fermented flavor and cut the preparation time substantially. The rice was then found appetizing enough to eat with the fish.
Also around this time, the forerunners of today's sushi bars began to pop up in Japan's large cities: street stalls that offered sushi as snack fare to passers-by.
And different parts of the country developed different sushi styles. The type best known to American aficionados - nigirizushi - arose in Edo, the city now called Tokyo. Equally popular in Japan is oshizushi, a form developed in the country's financial capital, Osaka.
The result is today's diversity of sushi styles and ingredients. The toppings, called tane, range from fish to egg omelet, vegetables to roe. The fish perched atop the rice can be uncooked, boiled, broiled, steamed, grilled, pickled, fried or dried. And there's even the seemingly contradictory vegetarian sushi: strips of vegetables rolled in seaweed and served with the same flair as the traditional type.
How does a sushi chef learn his trade?
Little Tokyo in Cary is a typical American sushi restaurant, with the bar tucked in back of the dining room. In Japan, the sushi bars are generally sheltered from the cooked food smells of the main dining area and set off in a room to themselves.
Decorated with mirrors, Little Tokyo is smaller than it first appears, but that too is typical of sushi restaurants. Because of the personal attention the chef gives his customers, the bars seat only a handful of people.
And the chef is the star attraction. He is often the reason hungry patrons will wait in line for a seat at the bar rather than take the first available table.
Ron Takahashi, executive chef at Little Tokyo, works quickly and efficiently, all the while smiling and keeping up conversation with the folks gathered round to watch his skillful preparation.
In Japan, the sushi chef begins as a young apprentice who does nothing more than carry food out to customers. Eventually he is allowed to make rice but continues to observe the master chef at work. In time, as an assistant, he will learn to cut the fish himself and then one day become licensed to open his own shop.
Takahashi says that process takes about five years to complete because it involves no formal instruction. "In Japan, no teaching, just watching," he says.
He explains that in the United States, a would-be sushi chef can become proficient in under a year because he does not have to learn how to judge the catch. "With fresh fish, you need more experience. One to two years is not enough," he says.
A typical sushi chef in Japan will rise early in the morning, visit the fish market and purchase his day's selection from catch brought in directly from the sea. He needs the ability to assess the fish at a glance, to determine its quality and freshness before taking it back to his shop.
In the United States, the fish in most restaurants does not come fresh from the sea. The fish Takahashi serves has first been bought by an importer, who in turn sells the product to a wholesaler. Takahashi receives a shipment from the wholesaler every two weeks, and he thaws the fish and other products as he needs them.
How is sushi prepared?
Though the Japanese prepare raw fish in numerous ways, Americans are most familiar with three basic forms: sashimi, nigirizushi and makizushi.
Sashimi is simply cuts of raw fish served with rice. What makes or breaks sashimi is how the fish is cut. Different types of fish require different treatment to enhance their flavor and texture. Many species can be cut in rectangular slices about three-eighths inch thick. Seafood with thin body walls, like squid, is cut into strips about 2 inches long and one-sixteenth inch thick. The meat of thick-fleshed fish is cubed, while firm, white-fleshed fish are cut into wafer-thin slices.
Nigirizushi is made by hand-molding a finger of rice, topping it with a dab of wasabi and then a piece of fish or other topping. Some pieces are then wrapped with a ring of seaweed.
Makizushi, or sushi roll, is made using a bamboo mat. A sheet of seaweed is placed on the mat and covered with rice. Toppings are placed lengthwise near one end, and, using the mat as a guide, the seaweed and rice are rolled over the topping and into a log, which is usually cut into six pieces.
Part of the cuisine's appeal is the chewy, glossy rice. Making sushi rice is similar to making regular rice, with three exceptions: the process begins with hot rather than cold water, the rice is cooked with a little less water than is normally required, and it is quick-cooled while being tossed with a wooden paddle in a shallow wooden tub or bowl. Some chefs, like Takahashi, use rice cookers.
Shaping the rice requires a deft touch as the grains are not forced into a wad but rather gently pressed together so that they just adhere to one other. For some highly skilled chefs, the goal is to have all the grains of rice run in one direction.
Is sushi good for me?
Takahashi believes that many people eat sushi because they consider it a healthful food. And even though consuming raw seafood carries some risks, the benefits are many.
"Sushi is virtually fat free, and an entire six pieces from a roll has less than 30 calories," says Claudia Plaisted, director of the Medical Nutrition Curriculum Initiative in the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Public Health. "It's incredibly high fiber, low fat and rich in minerals. And there's the additional nutritional benefit of those fatty fish oils, especially in the salmon."
She points out the low incidence of most chronic diseases in the Japanese people, who eat a diet consisting mainly of fish and rice. They generally have lower rates of many cancers, heart disease and diabetes. But, she says, they have a very high rate of stomach cancer because of the many salted and pickled foods they eat. If you eat sushi frequently, Plaisted recommends that you apply soy sauce sparingly or use the low-sodium kind.
The only complaint she hears about sushi is that some people who eat too much at one sitting may suffer discomfort.
"Seaweed is very high in fiber so that if you don't have a high-fiber diet, you could get gastrointestinal distress," she says. "The signal is not to give up sushi but to eat more fiber in your diet."
Fingers or chopsticks?
Tempted by the beauty and nutritional value of sushi, neophytes may find the manner of eating it daunting. Surreptitious glances around the bar will help, but they probably won't give you all the points of etiquette you need. So, for those of inquisitive palate but hesitant hands, below are some guidelines.
Chopsticks
Sashimi
Sushi
If you plan to eat sushi at a Japanese restaurant, it is a good idea to sit at the bar. While you can order platters of sushi from a table, you won't be part of the lively conversations between the chef and his customers. You also won't be able to tell the chef how much wasabi to put on each piece, a good reason for opting for the bar and not a table.
While following the rules may whisk you away to the Far East, Japanese chefs and servers understand that Americans approach their food more casually. Most important to them is that patrons enjoy the food and atmosphere.
Takahashi agrees. He is not bothered at all by diners who glob wasabi in their soy sauce and then dip the already-seasoned sushi into the stew. Neither is he irked by those who let their sashimi swim in the mixture before eating it.
"No rules," he says emphatically. "Everybody is different in what they like."
Knowing that, curious gastronomes can venture forth without fear of committing a culinary faux pas.
Kanpai!
Sushi Vocabulary
sashimi - slices of raw fish
sushi - vinegared rice topped with fish or other topping
nigirizushi - hand-sculpted fingers of rice topped with fish, roe, egg, etc.
oshizushi - rice pressed into a mold, topped with marinated fish, unmolded and cut into bite-sized pieces
makizushi - rice and toppings rolled log-style in seaweed and cut into pieces
uramaki - makizushi rolled with the rice instead of the seaweed on the outside
temakizushi - rice and toppings rolled by hand into a cone of seaweed
chirashizushi - known as "scattered sushi," a variety of toppings served over or mixed into rice
shari - rice with seasoned vinegar
su - rice vinegar
sushi su - seasoned rice vinegar
tane - topping and filling ingredients for all styles of sushi
nori - seaweed
wasabi - Japanese horseradish
gari - pickled ginger
shoyu - soy sauce
sushi tsu - a person knowledgeable about sushi
itamae - the sushi chef
hashi - Japanese chopsticks
Kanpai - "to your health"