Nigiri-zushi: Hand-Pressed Sushi

Edo-mae (Tokyo-style) nigiri-zushi was developed in the early 19th century and represents the highest technical form of sushi. The word nigiri means "grip" or "grasp" — the action that forms the rice portion. The benchmark still set in Tokyo sushi restaurants is that the nigiri should hold together for eating but fall apart at the first bite — cohesive enough to travel from plate to mouth, delicate enough to dissolve on the palate.

The craft of pressing a small mound of shari against a slice of raw or prepared fish using the hands — a technique that requires the rice to be the correct temperature, the fish to be cut at the correct angle and thickness, and the pressure of the hands to be simultaneously firm enough to form a cohesive unit and light enough to preserve the rice's airy structure. Nigiri is not formed — it is suggested into shape. The hand is the tool. The lightness is the technique.

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