🍱 Nigiri zushi
Nigiri-zushi is a typical Japanese dish consisting of vinegared rice topped with ingredients. In the Heian period, salted fish was dipped in cooked rice as a preserved food, and the rice was fermented and pickled with a sour taste, which was called nare-zushi. During the Edo period, nare-zushi was transformed into various forms, including haya-zushi (fast sushi), oshi-zushi (pressed sushi), and nigiri-zushi (nigiri sushi). Today, hand-rolled sushi is also popular, and nigirizushi has spread throughout the world. Nigirizushi became popular in the Edo period as a stall food to fill the stomachs of the common people, and it is a dish that evolved through the development of innovations to make it both upscale and easy to eat. Nare-zushi from the Heian period was also devised in various regions, and is still eaten today, including sushi used as a fine meal. Shiga is famous for its nare-zushi. In Edo (present-day Tokyo), the "Edo Sanzushi" (three types of sushi) include Kiemon Matsuzaki's "kekkari sushi," Yohei Hanaya's "Yohei sushi," and Sakaiya Matsugoro's "matsuga-zushi," which are said to have contributed greatly to the spread of nigiri-zushi. Edomae-zushi is made with rice that has been red-vinegar-brushed and prepared by boiling, steaming, boiling, zuke (zuke), kombu-jime (kombu-jime), or washing with vinegar, such as kohada (yellowfin bream) or mackerel, cooked sea eel or steamed shrimp, or fried egg.