By: Graham Foster..

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.

Otherwise, you will have to do the knife-processing yourself, which can take hours especially if you are dealing with a big fish. This step also requires that you use a very sharp knife. There are many good sushi books in the bookstores which can illustrate the correct way of cutting and deboning the fish.

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.

There are no shortcuts on the rice either, It must be authentic Japanese sushi rice .. Uncle Bens simply won’t cut it. Another point to remember don’t confuse sushi with another japanese favorite sashimi . The main difference being the serving of rice. If you order sashimi and want rice make sure you order a bowl as it is not part of the dish.

Types of sushi are many, but with out exception all are served with rice. Most commonly know is the sushi roll or maki which is made using nori (seaweed) and served in slices of six parts. In addition there is nigiri or hand made sushi usually prepared in pairs. In addition to these more common types there is also pressed sushi (squares) or oshi, and bean curd sushi 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.

Lastly we have Temarizushi which are rice balls wrapped in thinly sliced marinated fish. Itadakimasu! (enjoy your meal)

Before you start any diet or slimming program online, make sure you read Graham Fosters’ excellent free report on how he lost 22.5lbs in weight in only 5 short weeks without any diet pills, fad diets or exercising like a Navy Seal!

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