【Reading】さけずし

【English Name】Sake sushi

A regional sushi of Kagoshima Prefecture made by arranging rice seasoned with sake and various delicacies of the mountains and sea in a tub and letting it ferment. Although it resembles pressed sushi, its distinctive feature is that no vinegar is used; instead, Kagoshima's specialty sweet local sake and salt are used. One theory holds that sake-zushi began when, during a cherry-blossom viewing held by Shimazu Yoshihiro, a feudal lord of the Edo period, a maidservant placed the leftover dishes and local sake together in a tub, and the next morning a pleasant aroma was wafting from it.