Narezushi: A Taste of Ancient Sushi

choi

Kate Springer, Narezushi: A Taste of Ancient Sushi in Japan. CNN, Jan 2018.
http://www.cnn.com/travel/articl ... hi-japan/index.html

Note:
(a) "Narezushi, the most primitive, earliest form of sushi * * * Dating back to the 10th century in Japan, this fermented fish was preserved with salt and raw rice, eventually giving way to the nigiri (sliced seafood atop rice) we know and love today."
(i) narezushi  熟れ鮨（鮓）/馴れ鮨（鮓）: "現在の寿司は酢飯を用いるが、なれずしは乳酸発酵により酸味を生じさせるもので、これが本来の鮨（鮓）の形態である。"  ja.wikipedia.org.

My translation: the present-day sushi uses vinegar and cooked rice, but narezushi employed lactic acid fermentation to generate acid, which is the original form of sushi.
(ii) Fish itself has abundant protein (as well as fat), but little carbohydrates for lactic acid fermentation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactic_acid_fermentation
(by bacteria not fungus; section 2 Application)

That is why rice was added. If rice is not added, there would still be fermentation, but by different microbes -- thus not lactic acid fermentation.
(iii) The noun nigiri 握り is short for nigiri-zushi 握り寿司 (with one hand kneading rice and ingredients into a ball)

(b) "Shiga prefecture, where narezushi is still common * * * Around Lake Biwa -- the largest lake in Japan, just north of Kyoto -- narezushi was a household staple"
(i) Shiga prefecture  滋賀県
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/滋賀県
(view map, showing the prefecture contains the lake in its entirety; derived its name from its predecessor 滋賀郡 [, whose name indicated stony ("石の多いところ")] )
(ii)
(A) "測量技術が発達し湖の形が琵琶に似ていることがわかった江戸時代中期以降、琵琶湖という名称が定着した。": ja.wikipedia.org.

my translation: With development of cartography, the shape of the lake was learned to be that of biwa. Since the mid-Edo period, the name has taken hold.
(B) 琵琶 (Japanese pronunciation; biwa; English word: pipa [presumably from Mandarin]; originated in Iran, transmitted through China to Japan)  ja.wikipedia.org.

choi

(c) "Narezushi can be made with yellowtail, mackerel or ayu, but the most common type in the Lake Biwa area is funazushi, made from nigorobuna fish."
(i) ayu  鮎
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayu
("Native to East Asia, it is distributed in the northwestern Pacific Ocean along the coast of Hokkaidō in Japan southward to the Korean Peninsula, China, Hong Kong and northern Vietnam [but not Taiwan];
(A) The zh.wikipedia.org has a page of the same fish under the name of 香魚.
(B) ja.wikipedia.org for 鮎: born in river, swim downriver to live in coastal area of the sea in autumn and winter, swim upriver next spring (about 6cm long), reach 15–30cm by summer, breed and died,
(C) 鮎: not to be confused with 鯰.
(ii) nigorobuna
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nigorobuna
("Carassius auratus grandoculis, a wild subspecies [take notice: 亜種, specifically '琵琶湖固有亜種 * * * 全長 35cm [for adult]': ja.wikipedia.org; click to see what it looks like] of goldfish [Carassius auratus 錦鯉] endemic to Japan, its habitat limited to Lake Biwa)
(A) The funa is Japanese pronunciation for 鮒 (Carassius spp, where means shorthand of plural form of "species")
(B) The f in "funa" is softened to "b."
(iii) The funazushi 鮒寿司 is simply narezushi based on the fish funa 鮒, short for nigorobuna.

(d) "Sometimes, they [CONSUMERS] prepare narezushi as porridge with hot tea (called ochazuke-rice)" (the "rice" here is English)

chazuke  茶漬け
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chazuke

(e)
(i)
(A) "Kazuyuki ŌHASHI, the executive chef at Lake Biwa Marriott Hotel"   琵琶湖マリオットホテルの料理長 大橋 (I fail to find the kanji for the given name)
The hotel is about 30 minutes (by train) from the Kyōto station ("京都駅から約30分": from the Web).
(B) "Akiko HIGASHIMOMO, a shopkeeper"   The family name is 東桃.
(iii) restaurants (both in Shiga Prefecture):
(A) Kimura  きむら
www.ayukimura.co.jp

The restaurant name is written in hiragana, though kimyra is represented by kanji 木村 (a family name).
(B) Kō-ri-an  湖里庵
www.korian.net/