Sushi History

From its ancient origins across the ocean to our Bellevue Japanese restaurant, the history of sushi is a fascinating one. Though it is difficult to know such things for certain, the common belief is that sushi started back in east Asia, where fishermen would pack their catches with rice in order to preserve the meat. This rice was combined with rice wine so that the fish would ferment.

Over time, it was discovered that the fermentation process could be hastened with the addition of vinegar. This was the original “sushi rice”. For a while, this rice was actually thrown out before the fish was eaten, and it wasn’t until the nineteenth century when food vendors first realized that they could serve sashimi with the sushi rice as an easy and delicious street meal. As this practice originated in Edo, this new food was dubbed Edo-style sushi.

After this point, sushi remained more or less the same until the 1970’s. This was when Japanese chefs were trying to introduce sushi to the United States. Their innovations launched the phenomenon of fusion sushi, or “American-style” sushi, which quickly caught fire across the globe. Join in on this continuing history of sushi yourself with Flo Japanese Restaurant and Sake Bar!