Tracing Narezushi
An interactive map of "Re-Envision: Sushi" by Kay Lee
01 / 11
1
Narezushi, fermented fish wrapped with salt and cooked carbohydrates, arose in the 3rd century in the Mekong Basin due to the cyclical seasons of fish abundance and deficiency, as well as the availability of salt and rice.
2
The need to preserve quickly-rotting fish for scarce periods gave rise to the development of narezushi. In fact, linguistic evidence supports this theory of origin: the Khmer term, phaak, which means narezushi, is derived from the Khmer word prahoc, which refers to fermented fish products.
3
Narezushi then arrived in China during the Han migration down the Yangtze River in the 4th century, when the Han Chinese adopted it into their cuisine. 5
4
Later, narezushi was introduced to Japan in the 9th century from Chinese culture. Its emergence in Japanese society was closely tied to the spread of Buddhism.
In the mid 6th century, monks from Baekje, a Korean kingdom, brought Buddhism to Japan, which was subsequently popularised by Empress Suiko 7 towards the end of the 6th century during her reign. 8 This resulted in the banning of meat consumption. However, fish was not included in the meat taboo. Hence, fish consumption increased and new methods of preserving fish had to be quickly developed to meet societal needs.
Moreover, Japan’s natural geography made fishing conducive, as it is made up of islands surrounded by seas that are rich in seafood. 9
5
The development of modern sushi, in the 1820s is credited to Hanaya Yohei, a cook of Edo. 13 It was not until this period that fresh fish was served over vinegared rice and nori, dried seaweed sheets made from red algae. 14 In addition to changing the preparation method of sushi, Hanaya also began marketing sushi as a type of fast food, selling his nigiri-zushi in portable sushi stalls that busy workers could easily pick up in the middle of their work day. 15
6
The shift away from using fermented fish to fresh fish in sushi was then cemented by the invention of the ice machine during the 20th century in the United States of America. 16
7
Although narezushi has faded into the background amidst increasing popularity of sushi, it is still being prepared today in the Shiga prefecture as funazushi. 17
8
Similarly, analogues of sushi in Southeast Asian countries, near its birthplace, include Burong isda of the Philippines...
9
...Ikan pekasam from Malaysia...
10
...and Thailand’s Pla ra. 18
11
Outside of Asia, we find parallels in the Nordic world with regards to its preparation methods – an ancient, Nordic tradition of preserving fish by combining them with carbohydrate-rich food. An example of this is kalakukko, fish baked in bread dough, still prepared in some rural districts of Finland. 19