10/15/2023
During the Edo period (1603–1867), a third type of sushi, haya-zushi (早寿司、早ずし, "fast sushi"), was developed. Haya-zushi differed from earlier sushi in that instead of lactic fermentation of rice, vinegar, a fermented food, was mixed with rice to give it a sour taste so that it could be eaten at the same time as the fish. Previously, sushi had evolved with a focus on shortening the fermentation period, but with the invention of haya-zushi, which is simply mixed with vinegar, the fermentation process was eliminated and sushi became a fast food. Many types of sushi known in the world today, such as chirashizushi (散らし寿司, "scattered sushii"), inarizushi (稲荷寿司, "Inari sushi"), makizushi (巻寿司, "rolled sushi"), and nigirizushi (握り寿司, "hand-pressed sushi"), were invented during this period, and they are a type of haya-zushi. Each region utilizes local flavors to produce a variety of sushi that has been passed down for many generations. A 1689 cookbook describes haya-zushi, and a 1728 cookbook describes pouring vinegar over hako-zushi (箱ずし, "box sushi") (square sushi made by filling a wooden frame with rice).[7]