It is claimed by many nutritionists that Sushi is one of the main reasons why Japanese people have the lowest incidence of obesity and heart disease. Now finally more and more are taking up Sushi as an alternative to junk foods.

Sushi, that sumptuous combination of rice and raw fish, wrapped in fish skin is quickly approaching fast food status overseas, far, far away from the country that invented it. It’s sparing partner, the wasabe, the green stuff that is atrocious to the nose is a delicacy that non-Japanese people are still getting used to-but it’s only a matter of time.

Wasabe or Wasabi paste as many know it has more than just taste to offer the dinner. It might suprise you to learn that this hot and firery paste has almost magical powers with the ability to kill bacteria in fish … even if the fish may not be as fresh as it might be.

Eating sushi can be quite expensive, owing to the fact that it is labor intensive to make. The first big challenge is getting really fresh fish, definitely not just the ones that sell in the typical wet market. You have to find the fish market that sells sushi-grade fish. In some cases, they will help do the deboning for you, but for a fee, of course.

You could of course prepare your own sushi … You’ll need a good amount of time as the process cannnot be rushed and a high level of confidence with sharp knives. Maybe it is this combination of labor and skill that means most dinners either choose to buy ready prepared sushi or dine out at one of the number of eating places serving such food.

Get this, the trick is not in the fish, it’s in the art of cutting it. Although fresh fish is absolutely required to start with, there is only way to do it the sushi way. Experiment with doing it your way and see what happens to the fish. The fish slices will look soggy and grainy–it seems the fish has been abused.

You can’t cheat with the rice, too. It’s got to be authentic Japanese rice, preferably cooked rice-cooker-style. As a final word, never confuse sushi with its “cousin,” the sashimi. The basic difference is the rice! Sashimi doesn’t come with rice, you have to order it separately, unless you intend to it as it is (with wasabe, of course).

There are dozens of types of sushi all served with rice. The hand made sushi or nigiri are typically ordered in pairs. Another popular type of sushi are sushi rolls or maki, these are made of sheets of seaweed (nori) and served as six slices. There are many variations of these. In addition you’ll find pressed sushi or oshi (small squares) and bean curd rolls or inarizushi.

Here are many more sushi styles. Saikuzushi, or festival sushi is an art form. Rice is tinted different colors, sectioned off and rolled. When it is sliced, complex images are created. Chirashizushi, or scattered sushi, is rice spread in a box or bowl with nine kinds of fish and vegetables scattered on top or mixed in with the rice. Chakinzushi is sushi rice in a thin omelet wrapper shaped and tied like a lady’s drawstring purse. Sometimes a single pea or small shrimp decorates the ruffled part of the wrapper.

Makezushi consist of sushi rice combined with vegetables, and seafood that has been molded into special bowls of square tins and covered with pieces of sliced omelet, shrimp and vegetables. Another variation on this theme is Fukusazushi where where the molded rice is wrapped in a sheet of omelet and then turned over to hide the joins and garnished with a ribbon of seaweed (nori) and ginger.

Temarizushi are rice balls tightly wrapped in thinnly-sliced marinated fish. Itadakimasu! (Bon Appetite!)

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