May is Asian heritage month in the U.S. and Canada, but most of us probably celebrate the Asian diaspora year-round by enjoying one of the greatest gifts from the other edge of the Pacific Rim: Asian food. But sometimes, in our uncommon hurry to enjoy the ramen or the curry, we may find ourselves slurping up all kinds of bad takes along with our good takeout. Ken Jennings, of Jeopardy! fame is obviously not Asian, but (fun fact!) he grew up in Asia, which sort of qualifies him to set us straight on some of the biggest culinary misconceptions about the world's biggest continent. Check, please!
The Debunker: What Ingredient Makes Sushi Sushi?
The traditional Japanese treat of sushi hasn't always been appreciated on these shores. When the Ladies' Home Journal introduced Americans to Japanese cuisine in 1929, the editors "purposely omitted…any recipes using the delicate and raw tuna fish which is sliced wafer thin and served iced." America wasn't even eating pizza yet in 1929. It sure as hell weren't ready for cold raw tuna as an entrée.
But in 1966, sushi chef Shigeo Saito opened the continent's very first sushi bar, above the Kawafuku restaurant in Los Angeles's "Little Tokyo" Neighborhood. Over the next decade or two, sushi gradually seeped into the American consciousness, thanks largely to jokes in syndicated newspaper columns and Johnny Carson monologues about gullible yuppies pretending to like uncooked seafood. Have you heard about this? People are eating raw fish!
But even today, Americans largely misunderstand sushi. Japanese people do eat raw fish, but it's called sashimi, and sushi may or may not use it. Some seafood in sushi (shrimp, octopus, eel) is always or nearly always cooked. Other kinds of sushi may contain no seafood at all, instead relying on vegetables, egg, seaweed, or even pickled fruit. The ingredient that all sushi has in common is vinegared rice. Saying that "sushi is raw fish" is like saying "sandwiches are cheese" or "sandwiches are peanut butter": sometimes true, but overlooking the bread for some reason.
Quick Quiz: In Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea, the title character plans to use raw tuna as bait to catch what other type of fish?
Ken Jennings is the author of eleven books, most recently his Junior Genius Guides, Because I Said So!, and Maphead. He's also the proud owner of an underwhelming Bag o' Crap. Follow him at ken-jennings.com or on Twitter as @KenJennings.