SUSHI-寿司

We would have gotten to this eventually, but we might as well do it now...

The dish that is synonymous with Japan is actually of Chinese origin, spreading from southeast asia, through China, and then eventually to Japan.

Now, you may go to the store and buy a California roll or a dynamite roll, but these aren't authentic, just westernized versions of the Japanese recipe. While there may be many imitations throughout the western world  there are actually only 6, purely Japanese, incarnations:

Chirashizushi- a bowl of vinegared rice, served with raw fish.

Inarizushi- a pouch made of tofu filled with rice

Makizushi- the famous cylinder-shaped sushi

Narezushi- Its name literally means "matured sushi", which is appropriate enough because it takes 6 months for it to even be edible. Narezushi is skinned and gutted fish that have been stuffed with salt and stored in a barrel for half a year....yum?

Nigirizushi- long rectangular blocks of vinegared rice adorned with raw or cooked meat.

Oshizushi- This is a type of perfectly square sushi that originated from the Kansai region of Japan. It is similar to nigirizushi, just larger.