Sushi-licious!

Wazzup Pilipinas!

My 15th birthday was unarguably one of the best birthdays I've ever had. Why, you ask?

Well, besides the fact that I received a lot of b-day greetings from my family, real-life friends, and internet friends (which really means a lot to me), my family prepared a truckload of food!- well, not exactly a truckload, but you get my point.

We had carbonara, menudo, chicken BBQ, fried liempo, relyenong bangus and many more. But out of all the delicious food on the table, my favorite was my huge sushi bilao!

See? It even has my name on it! (credit to: Annie Raganit)

My face doesn't even begin to describe what I feel inside: PURE BLISS (credit to Annie Raganit)

My sister surprised me with this! She bought it for me using her very first paycheck. I was so very happy because sushi is one of my favorite food! My sushi bilao only had three kinds of sushi: California maki, kanimaki, and kappa maki. But even so, I was very happy.

 
Now what exactly is sushi?



(credits to: Sushi Tips)

Sushi has been around for thousands of years. It dates back to 4th century BC in Southeast Asia and around 8th century AD, it was introduced to Japan. Since then, it has been the most popular Japanese food in the world. With sushi being a $14 billion industry in Japan, it's no wonder that it has symbolized Japanese cuisine around the world.

Sushi is usually made out of cold, cooked, sticky Japanese rice soaked in wine called "sake" that is rolled into bite-sized pieces with either fish, eggs or vegetables as the fillings. With the wide variety of ingredients to choose from, it's no wonder that there are over a hundred different kinds of sushi.


(credits to: Gourmet Traveller)

Sushi was originally created to be a way to preserve food. But now, it has been treated as a cuisine and an art. Did you know that sushi chefs or itamae undergo through rigorous training that can take up to 20 years just to perfect the art of making sushi? They have to be trained to identify important aspects of making sushi like the smell, color, firmness, and freedom from parasites to ensure that the sushi is safe to eat.Talk about dedication! That is why you can usually find master itamae in high-end classy restaurants! But this doesn't mean you can't enjoy sushi made from your usual restaurants.

Sushi is for everyone of any age. Young or old, male or female, Japanese or non-Japanese, everyone can eat sushi! But what most people don't know is, there is a whole set of proper etiquette of eating sushi:


(credits to: The World's Best Ever)
So the next time you enjoy a sushi or two, keep in mind the common courtesy needed. Nevertheless, you still have to remember to say itadakimasu! and thank Japan for being bringing this wonderful and unique dish into this world.

What are you waiting for? Let's eat sushi!