Dragon Roll. – [Sushi | Foodlore]

Description

• About: Dragon rolls are another kind of Uramaki (inside out) roll which are topped with slices of creamy Avacado; the rolls are filled with a signature piece of thin crispy shrimp tempura & sliced Cucumber, topped with a piece of savory Eel! The roll is often topped with Spicy Sriracha-mayo sauce, Tobiko (flying fish roe) & flavorful sesame seeds are added as a decorative garnish!

In Japanese, Avacados are called “鰐梨” (pronounced “Wani-nashi” = “Crocodile Pear” – “Wani” can mean either ‘crocodile’ or ‘shark’ but in some specific cases can also refer to ‘Dragons’ too. (see also: “wani” ) – Thus, Avacados as a topping just makes sense thematically! —However, it should definitely be noted that Avacados as well as Mayonaise (and Uramaki rolls, in general) are Japanese-American fusion dish and as such are much more modern additions to sushi, which points the creation of the ‘dragon roll’ to the mid 80s-90s; most likely shortly after the invention of the California roll!

I digress, Never the less below is a story about “Wani” (Though its notably in the context of Sharks.) I had nowhere else to include it as ‘shark sushi’ isn’t really a thing! (or at least the consumption of shark meat its very taboo in this day and age, so i probably wont be drawing a shark related dish/sushi sticker at least!)

[‘Imaro and the Wani.’ Utagawa Kuniyoshi – image/story source]

“One day a young woman was walking along the seashore when she was suddenly attacked by a particularly ferocious wani. This was said to happen on the 13th day of the 7th month of the 7th year of the emperor Tenmu or 674. Imaro buried what was left of his daughter on the shore where he screamed and stomped railing at the gods in the heavens. This is what he did for quite a while, until he collapsed in exhaustion. After that he sharpened his arrows and honed his dagger. He was determined to kill the wani that killed her.

He prayed to all of the gods, the gods of the heavens, the gods of the earth and the gods of the seas to help him get his vengeance. One source in translations says: “You fifteen million heavenly gods, you fifteen million earthly gods, you 399 shrines worshipped in this land, and all you deities of the sea, may you watch over me in peace. But I beg you, you gods, support my desire to avenge the injustice that has befallen my daughter. Let me feel the divine nature of the gods.” While imploring the gods to help and protect him a large group of 100 wani began swimming toward him, including the guilty monster. They circled Imaro in tighter and tighter circles until at last he was able to fight with and slay that one particular wani he sought to kill. When that happened all of the other wani disappeared.

After killing the wani he began to cut it to pieces when he found his daughter’s leg. This confirmed that he got the right culprit.”

[Art sticker and bite sized biography by samkalensky (yo thats me!) part of my foodlore/sushi collections!! – check my ‘maki section for more!]