【Reading】あわせす

【English Name】Mixture of vinegar

Awasezu is a general term for a seasoning liquid based on vinegar combined with seasonings such as salt, sugar, soy sauce, and mirin; it is also called kagenzu or chogozu.

The representative example in sushi is sushizu (sushi vinegar), referring to vinegar mixed with salt and sugar. It is drizzled over freshly cooked hot rice and quickly mixed with cutting strokes of a rice paddle, then fanned to remove the excess heat to make vinegared rice. Because the blending ratio differs from shop to shop and the chef adjusts it according to the quality of the rice and its compatibility with the neta, the flavor of the awasezu becomes an element that determines a shop's individuality.

In the dawn of Edomae sushi, it was mainstream to combine only salt with kasuzu (red vinegar) made from sake lees, without adding sugar. However, after the war the "yellow rice incident" occurred, and as colored vinegared rice came to be avoided, the shift to white vinegar progressed. Since white vinegar alone has a weak flavor, the method of adding sugar to supplement richness is said to have spread.

Awasezu is also widely used in Japanese cuisine other than sushi. Variations are abundant—nibaizu (soy sauce and vinegar), sanbaizu (with mirin added), tosazu (flavored with bonito dashi), yoshinozu (thickened with kudzu starch), sumiso (mixed with miso)—and they are broadly used in vinegared dishes (sunomono) and namasu.