Recently, I was reading a book about sushi, and found out that soy sauce is actually a by-product of making miso.
Early forms of sushi were actually invented inland South East Asia, since they had to find a way to preserve it. It was found that if you put fish in rice and let it sit for months, the fermented rice kills off the bacteria, and keeps the fish edible, even if the fermented rice smelled like vomit.
When the practice migrated to Japan, the lords of Kyoto began to eat the fish earlier and earlier, and found that the rice, slightly fermented, was actually quite good. So, sushi rice came as a by-product of a modified process of preservation for fish.
Later on, somebody invented rice vinegar, so you no longer had to wait months for slightly fermented sushi rice--you just pour it onto freshly cooked rice.
Early forms of sushi were actually invented inland South East Asia, since they had to find a way to preserve it. It was found that if you put fish in rice and let it sit for months, the fermented rice kills off the bacteria, and keeps the fish edible, even if the fermented rice smelled like vomit.
When the practice migrated to Japan, the lords of Kyoto began to eat the fish earlier and earlier, and found that the rice, slightly fermented, was actually quite good. So, sushi rice came as a by-product of a modified process of preservation for fish.
Later on, somebody invented rice vinegar, so you no longer had to wait months for slightly fermented sushi rice--you just pour it onto freshly cooked rice.