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From 酸し(sushi, “sour”), the archaic し (shi) terminal-form conjugation of modern 酸い(sui, “sour”).[1][2][3]
Originally, sushi was a form of fish that had been salted and fermented for preservation without refrigeration. The fish was sometimes packed with rice or rice mixed with vinegar in order to speed the fermentation process. In the Edo period, this was also known as hayazushi (早鮨, 早鮓) when packed in layers, pressed, and fermented for just one night. Something similar is still prepared today as narezushi (馴鮨, 熟鮨) that relies on fermentation with no added vinegar.
Using the counter かん or 貫 (kan): 一貫 (ikkan), 二貫 (nikan)
Historically, かん or 貫(kan) is a relatively recent innovation, appearing in the 1970s. In the Edo period when modern sushi first starts to appear, and all the way through the Meiji or Taishō periods, records only show the use of the generic つ(tsu) and 個(ko) counters.[6]
『改訂食品事典』(1974)によると、昭和時代、仕上げた料理を2個盛り付けることを料理人の間で「にかん盛り」と言うようになり、「かん」を「個」の意味で使ったとあります。 According to the Revised Food Dictionary (1974), it was in the Shōwa period that chefs started to call a plate with two completed sushi servings a “two-kan plate”, using “kan” to mean “piece”.