Sushi: in the raw

Students respond to new fad as sushi consumption spreads to campus

Senior Nedda Mansy carefully looks over her sushi at the Festival before selecting a piece, skillfully using her chopsticks to dip her selection of ebi — or shrimp — into soy sauce before taking her first bite.

In American culture, eating anything raw can be intimidating and sometimes even feared by many people — especially regarding foods typically cooked before eaten.

"It is a common misconception that all sushi is raw, and that is not true," said senior Seong Kim, who works at Kyoto Japanese Steakhouse. She said that people have to remember that just because some sushi is raw, it does not mean it is slimy and fishy smelling.

Sushi is anything prepared with rice and seasoned with vinegar, according to japonsushi.com. This can include cooked seafood and even vegetables, according to the Web site.

Finding the type of sushi to fit your taste buds may require a little trial-and-error tasting, but the health benefits of sushi and the culturalization it provides may be worth it.

Tantilizing the taste buds

Aside from learning a little terminology, the first step to understanding how to eat and appreciate sushi is to identify all the components with which sushi is served. Sushi is prepared by a trained and highly skilled Itamae, or sushi chef, according to sushifaq.com. Usually found on the plate with sushi are gari — or ginger slices — soy sauce and wasabi — each tricky to use if one is unexperienced with sushi.

According to sushifaq.com, gari usually are pink or tan in color and are used to cleanse the palate between types of fish, not eaten with sushi.

Wasabi is a hot Japanese horseradish, usually green in color. "People put a little wasabi in soy sauce before dipping their sushi in it," Kim said. "It gives that extra zing."

Kim gives a warning on using too much wasabi, however. "Too much will clear any nasal congestion you might have," she said.

According to Kim, sashimi is the fish alone, and nigiri sushi is sushi with rice. "When rolls are filled with different ingredients, those are sushi rolls, or maki," she said. "You can really get creative with what you want and make things simple or fancy."

The California roll, made up of avacado, cucumber, crab meat and seasoned rice rolled with seaweed, is the most popular dish at Kyoto, and she said this is a good place for many people who are unexperienced with sushi to begin.

"[Sushi is] different," senior Andy Pak said. "Every bite provides a different blend of flavors. Salmon [maki] is the best because it's healthy, rich [in flavor and antioxidants] and meshes well with the other ingredients [rice, seaweed, calamari and horse radish]. All those different ingredients culminate to a striking taste."

Doing a body good

Sushi is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, known to be protective against heart disease, and — depending on the type of fish eaten — can be labeled a low-fat food, according to health.iafrica.com, a health and fitness Web site. When the fish is eaten together with rice, seaweed and avocado, it is a perfectly balanced meal of carbohydrate, protein and fat, according to the Web site.

"Sushi is lower in calories and fat than a hibatchi or a steak meal," Kim said.

Sophomore Erin Sochaski said, "Sushi is becoming a dieting fad, because it is a healthy meal, yet I feel like it is really not satisfying."

Seaweed, commonly found in sushi making, is a source of high-grade protein, calcium, carotene, phosphorus, iron, Vitamin A, 10 kinds of Vitamin B , Vitamin C, Niacin and Iodine, according to japonsushi.com.

While most taste buds cannot handle it in large amounts, Wasabi is rich in Vitamin C, according to the Prevention magazine Web site, www.prevention.com. Rice vinegar, used to prepare the rice, has antiseptic properties and can lower cholesterol.

A typical serving of sushi is six to nine pieces, which averages about 300 calories, according to japonsushi.com.

JMU's Asian infusion

Though sushi, in its primitive state, began in Japan in the seventh century, sushi experienced a popularity increase in the United States in the late 1970s, according to eatsushi.com.

Sushi has not changed much in preparation or ingredients, only in the atmosphere in which it is served, according to the Web site. This would explain why sushi no longer is found in out-of-the-way rooms in Japanese restaurants as it originally was, but now in specialized sushi bars, grocery stores and even college campuses.

JMU began carrying sushi as a dining option in the fall of 2002, according to Angela Ritchie, JMU Dining Services marketing program director. "We did some focus groups when preparing to make some changes to the Festival when we were expanding," she said. "When looking for new ideas, sushi kept coming up."

She said sushi also appeared many times on semester surveys conducted by JMU Dining Services.

Joe Erickson, JMU Dining Services operations director, said, "It started with AFC Sushi, who contracted with ARAMARK to bring sushi to college campuses, and we heard about it and decided to give it a shot since we were changing the Festival around that year anyway.

"As time went on, we added satellite locations at UREC, PC Dukes, Mister Chips and Market One," Erickson said. Due to demand being so high, deliveries are made from the main station in the Festival to both PC Dukes and Market One twice daily, he said. "All sushi is made fresh daily," he said. "Nothing is carried over from day to day."

The demand by JMU students for sushi was surprising, according to Ritchie. "Sales have far exceeded any expectations," according to Erickson.

"When they began, they were delivered to the satellite location daily, but that wasn't enough," Ritchie said. "We get a lot of positive feedback on the sushi."

For more information about how to eat sushi, types of sushi and the health benefits of sushi, visit a Web site such as digitalsushi.com or eatsushi.com.