Sushi is a food that people either hate, love, or love to hate. It’s a Japanese dish that’s made with rice and accompanied by seafood and vegetables. Although styles of sushi vary from one place to another, just about all of them include sumeshi, vinegared rice. This style of food can seem exceedingly simple to prepare, but it actually takes a lot of expertise and skill to make it correctly.

It’s also a dish that’s loved around the world, and that’s why there is now a holiday that celebrates it in all its forms. This holiday is observed on June 18th and is known as International Sushi Day. It’s a day for fans of this Japanese dish to share their love of it with the people in their lives.

The History of International Sushi Day

Sushi can be traced back through the shroud of time to a dish that was known as narezushi. This dish was salted fish that was stored in fermented rice and was capable of staying good for months at a time. The fish was fermented with rice, and salt and vinegar were added to the mixture. When the mixture had finished fermenting, the rice was then usually discarded.

If the rice was discarded from narezushi, why was it added in the first place? It’s because of the process known as lacto-fermentation. The “good” bacteria would consume the carbs from the rice and then produce lactic acid. This acid would keep the fish from spoiling. It’s basically the same process that some people use to turn cabbage into sauerkraut.

Narezushi would become an important source of protein for the Japanese. Although this dish is still eaten today, it was during the Edo Period that some chefs began to serve fresh fish with nori and vinegared rice. The first mention of sushi in English wouldn’t occur until near the end of the 19th century, however. This is when the word made it into the Oxford English Dictionary in 1893.

Today, sushi comes in a variety of different styles. These include Chirashizushi, Inarizushi, Makizushi, and Nigirizushi. There are also Western-style sushi recipes that are enjoyed the world over. They include American Makizushi and Uramaki.

A List of American-Style Sushi Recipes

We didn’t want to conclude this holiday article without taking a quick look at some of the original sushi recipes that people have created in the U.S. Although most people around the world are familiar with the many varieties of Japanese sushi, we feel that not as many people are familiar with the following American variations. Let’s look at them!

• California Roll: Avocado with imitation or premium crab, cucumber, tobiko, and made as an uramaki.
• Alaskan Roll: A California Roll with smoked salmon.
• Philadelphia Roll: A smoked salmon roll with cream cheese, cucumber, and onion.

Observing International Sushi Day

Regardless of whether a person enjoys traditional narezushi or one of the many modern sushi incarnations, this is a holiday that many people are going to want to enjoy. On this day, people can enjoy California Rolls, Hawaiian Rolls, Alaskan Rolls, or even Sushi Burritos. There’s no wrong way to celebrate this holiday, in our opinion. No matter what a person enjoys, however, they should take the time to let us all know about it using the hashtag #InternationalSushiDay.