Section 3-2. Why is “Sushi” delicious?

The Chinese character of “Sushi” contains the component indicating “Fish” within it. This means that “Sushi” spreads its roots in Japanese cuisine culture as the tasteful representative. However, a simple question comes to our mind “Why is “Sushi” delicious?”. Suppose that we ingest fish as the Sushi item and rice separately, we cannot enjoy that specifically delicious taste. The secret of that special taste might exist on our taking fish and rice simultaneously. That is correct! The “Hazo theory” is unconsciously applied to Sushi culture.
Take octopus Sushi for example. When we put one piece or octopus Sushi into our mouth for biting, octopus piece cannot be bitten by one bite, resulting in the octopus piece moving to either side of the oral cavity while rice piece is shifted to alternative side. Upon the second bite, the firmness caused by octopus is transmitted as a signal to the brain; in sharp contrast, however, the tender perception of rice on the alternative side is transmitted to the brain as its signal. Such different firmness on both sides is combined together to create sophisticated harmony, evolving into resounding into the brain together with feeling of pleasure. In addition, tastes of green horseradish paste, Sushi rice and soy sauce produce favorable stimulation to the brain. At that occasion, we shout “Good taste!” . “Turnip Sushi” is prepared by clamping sea bass between sliced turnip known as the specialty good of Toyama prefecture. This special Sushi provides somewhat different firmness from those of conventional Sushi.
The reasons why rolled Sushi, fried rice and curry rice are so tasty are ascribable to the similar Hazo function.
Previous animal experiments demonstrated delay of the contralateral brain growth of mice of 2 weeks of age compared with those on the side where the dental germ of the jaw was excised unilaterally. Since the nerve fiber projected from brain cells cross in the midst of these fibers, contralateral abnormality is induced. In this connection, it was observed that chewing foods contributed to increase in cerebral blood flow, together with elevation of the intracerebral temperature by 0.2℃ while intracerebral functional substances including memory-retreaval materials such as cholecystokinin are increased, resulting in rapid development of the brain. It was reported that mice given solid foods which need to continuously chew the foods exhibited more favorable results by 40~50% in the labyrinth test and the conditioned avoidance behavior test than the mice given powdered foods. These animal experiments clearly demonstrated that both growth and functions of brain required presence of Hazo, indicating close association of brain with teeth. As regards humans, geometric figure tests on kindergarten children revealed the correlation with chewing frequency and chewing ability of children at 5 years of age; in this connection, the test results in children who chew foods well were superior to those of children who ignore chewing of foods.
Whenever brain is stimulated through Hazo percepting tasty feeling, the above-stated brain activation unconsciously occurs. Accordingly, as one application of “Hazo theory”, all we have to do is to chew well the “foods” which satisfy your desires. Such an approach plays a role as simple but effective brain gymnastics, thereby contributing to systemic health enhancement and prevention of dementia. Why do not you make a practice to chew well your best favorite food and to taste it well immediately without being annoyed by worries about health and body weight gain. One old book “Hagakure” written in the Samurai area in Saga province as a Samurai philosophy reads “Our whole life is really trivial. Living with concerns is stupid. We must live our daily lives by enjoying the most favorable things in such a trivial world”.