When we think of sushi, we think of it as the iconic Japanese food, but did you know the origins are in Southeast Asia, where fermented rice was eaten with preserved fish, and dates back 2,000 years?
Fermented rice was packed with fish and left to ferment for months, a process known as “narezushi.”
Narezushi made its way to Japan in the 8th century by way of China. Japanese shortened the fermentation time and by the 15th century, fermentation was replaced with vinegar, which is the modern way to season sushi rice.
During the Edo period, around the 17th to 19th century, nigiri sushi or hand rolled sushi, was topped with fish or other ingredients.
Nori seaweed wrappers were added to sushi in the 19th century.
By the 20th century, California rolls with avocado and crab meat were invented in Los Angeles in the 1960s.
Today, there are over 45,000 sushi restaurants in Japan, who, although they did not invent it, turned sushi into a refined art and spread this food globally.
Even in Hilo, we have several sushi restaurants. One in particular is Moms Hilo, located in the former Kampai location in downtown Hilo, on Keawe Street.
Moms Hilo was opened in 2020 by Yuta Momoki and in June 2024, chef Ahren Uyeda joined Yuta to make this quaint location into a bustling restaurant.
Chef Ahren worked in Maui at Miso Phat Sushi Restaurant in Maui, where he was filmed with Guy Fieri on ‘Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.’ He also worked at Morimoto’s in Wailea, Maui and Star Noodle in Lahaina.
It was my first visit to Moms Hilo, but my friend Tracy is a regular, and immediately ordered the char siu noodles, noodles flavored with house shoyu dressing, topped with seasonal vegetables, and served either hot or cold, and the tofu okonomiyaki, a batter of flour, egg, tofu and vegetables, pan-fried and topped with their house sauce, garlic aioli, dried katsuobushi flakes, shredded nori, scallions and sesame seeds.
Da Bomb Roll, shrimp tempura topped with house poke, lilikoi aioli, agave, tobiko, green onions and sesame seeds, was the sushi that Chef Ahren served on Guy Fieiri’s show.
The sashimi combo was beautifully presented with a variety of thickly cut sashimi, lemon slices, and pickled ginger. The raw fish was so fresh and so delicious!
Chef Ahren brought to our table his creation of Miso Wild King Salmon, marinated salmon in miso sauce, cooked sous vide for several hours, and served with an onion soubise, a French onion puree, and topped with red chili threads. This dish had a WOW effect on me as the salmon melted in my mouth, and was so compatible with the onion soubise. It was “lick the plate” good.
Next, we were presented with the Nigiri set, Chef Ahren’s choice of 10 carefully crafted pieces each with a unique accoutrement, all presented omakase style.
Ikuri sushi was perfect as Chef Ahren seasons the ikura himself so it was not too salty but just right.
We ended the wonderful meal with homemade green tea ice cream.
Moms Hilo is open Tuesday through Saturday from 4:30 p.m. till 8:30 p.m. and closed on Sunday and Monday.
Ask any sushi chef what the most important ingredient in making sushi is and they all would probably say it is the rice and then the seasoning on the rice.
According to scholars at the International Rice Research Institute, rice was cultivated in Thailand as early as 10,000 B.C. and archaeologists found rice around China’s Yangtze and Huai rivers at least 6,000 B.C.
Hawaii has some history and in 1880, was exporting 1,573,739 pounds of rice. In 1887 that amount increased to 13,684,200 pounds. By 1899 there were 504 rice farms throughout the islands, averaging 18 acres in size and ranked second only to sugar, which was the largest export.
Nationally, Hawaii was third in the production of rice, with Louisiana and South Carolina producing more rice. By 1909, more than 5,000 people in Hawaii were working 9,425 acres and yielding 42 million pounds of rice. The decline of the rice industry happened when the Chinese Exclusion Act was signed into law on May 6, 1882 in response to the anti-Chinese sentiment.
Native-born Americans felt the Chinese immigrants were taking jobs away from them. The Exclusion Act prohibited Chinese immigrants from entering the United States and was not repealed until 1943, when China became America’s ally against Japan in World War II. With no one to harvest the rice, the industry soon disappeared. It is interesting how history is repeating itself and might create a disappearance of many agricultural crops in the islands as well as the rest of the nation.
