Sushi#2: What is "EDOMAE"?

 What is Edomae?
Most of the sushi eaten by Japanese people and guests from overseas today is Edomae sushi.
Edomae sushi is representative of the world of sushi, but at the same time it is also a rookie.
Sushi has a history of over 1000 years, but Edomae sushi is the final evolutionary form of sushi, having been invented in the latter half of the Edo period(1603-1868).

The most distinctive feature of Edomae sushi is that the chef places fresh seafood on top of the rice that he has formed into a ball.
It is safe to say that all sushi that is well known around the world is Edomae sushi.

There are also types such as makizushi and inarizushi,
but these are also Edomae sushi because the chef forms the rice into a ball to make them.

The word "Edo" in "Edomae" refers to Edo Castle (the current Imperial Palace), and "mae" means "front".
In the Edo period, the sea stretched out in front of Edo Castle. Edomae sushi was born as a way of eating fish caught in the sea immediately.

It is said that Edo-mae sushi was invented around 1825 by Yohei Hanaya and Matsugoro Sakaiya. Once Edo-mae sushi was invented, it quickly became popular, and Edo-mae sushi shops, stalls and street vendors selling sushi appeared all over Edo. It seems that a sushi boom occurred in Edo at that time.
Edo-mae sushi at that time was even bigger and more luxurious than it is today. It was so extravagant and flashy that the inventors, Yohei and Matsugoro, were arrested by the Edo Shogunate (Edo government) and thrown in jail.
This incident may be the reason why sushi is now smaller than it used to be.

The sushi boom that started in Edo quickly spread throughout Japan, and within 50 to 70 years, sushi throughout Japan had become Edo-mae sushi. It seems that at the time, it was "super cool sushi".

Utagawa Kuniyoshi:Shima-zoroi onna Benkei (Women Likened to Benkei, Wearing Checks)」

Utagawa Toyokuni：Sushi-yoshi（from : Twenty-four Enjoyments of Beauties of the Present Day）

There was a reason why Edomae-zushi spread so quickly throughout Japan.
At the time, there were one million people living in Edo. At the same time, the populations of Beijing and London were said to be 900,000 and 600,000 respectively, so you could say that Edo was one of the world's great cities.
Around 30% to 50% of the population were workers from the countryside who had come to the city to find work, and they brought with them various cultures and fashions, and in turn, they also took them back with them, so sushi quickly spread to all parts of Japan.

Until the development of Edo-mae sushi, sushi was not made by hand, but by pressing it with tools. It was also a preserved food that was eaten soon after it was made, rather than being eaten immediately.
This type of sushi is the old style, but it can be found all over Japan, and is still eaten today. I also like the old style of sushi.
Next week, I will talk about this old style of sushi.

(For a while, every Saturday will be about sushi. )