Tomato Nigiri – [Veggie|Sushi|Foodlore (Catsup)]

Tomato Nigiri • [Sushi|Veggie|Foodlore] (Catsup) – トマト (to-ma-to) • About this Nigiri: as the song goes, You say Tomato, I say トマト! Tomatos arrived in Japan early in the Edo period (1603-1868) having travelled the globe from Mesopotamia and being domesticated worldwide along the way. The first tomato plants in Japan were considered decorative garden plants & they where not cultivated for culinary purposes until the Meiji period (1868-1912) It would not be until the early Showa era (1926-1989) before eating tomatoes raw became popular! Today, nigiri with tomato’s are usually found on the rare vegan menu; Vegan & Vegetarian sushi restaurants are still quite rare to see, you probably wont see many options in your average sushi restaurant anywhere; but they do exist! – Vancouver BC Canada even has places that serve it as an Omakase experience! – As I’ve said previously, the idea that sushi is only raw fish is a bit of a misnomer, its more so about the flavour of the ingredient chosen on top of the seasoned rice! – There’s a wide variety of vegetable toppings including but not limited to: Lotus root, Corn, Peppers, Beats, Peas, Eggplants, even Mushrooms and Fruits such as Mangos and Avacados are served as delicious toppings for Nigiri! (I could be drawing nigiri forever so for now, i’ll just stick to the tomato as the vegan rep.) – Raw Tomato’s with rice are delicious in any context, but in this case the flesh is sliced thin & is used as a colourful substitute (meant to resemble tuna?) I garnished mine with a spicy jalapeno pepper. – [Of course because this is a tomato sticker i hid Catsup in there too.] [Collection of the Tokyo National Museum by 狩野探幽 Kanō Tan’yū (1602-1674 AD) this is one of the earliest images of tomatoes made in Japan!]