【Reading】すじめ

【English Name】marinated in vinegar

A cooking technique in which the flesh of fish is first firmed with salt to draw out moisture, then soaked in a seasoning liquid combining vinegar, salt, sugar, and the like to finish. By letting the vinegar flavor penetrate the ingredient, from which excess moisture has been removed by salt-firming, it produces a distinctive umami and firm texture.

Originally it was a method aimed at preserving fresh fish, but today it is widely established as a cooking method for adding deep flavor to ingredients. The representative example is shime-saba (vinegar-cured mackerel), and in the world of sushi it is used for blue-backed fish in general, called "hikarimono" (silver-skinned fish). Gizzard shad (kohada) and Pacific saury (sanma) are also prepared by su-jime and often served as nigiri-sushi toppings.

Likening it to heating in cooking, it can be broadly divided into a method of soaking slowly for a long time in weak vinegar and a method of soaking only briefly in strong vinegar. For shime-saba, for example, it is generally considered standard to soak it in somewhat strong vinegar for about an hour, then remove it and let it rest about one night to finish. Adjusting the soaking time and vinegar concentration according to the thickness and quantity of the ingredient and the need for preservation is where the artisan's skill shows.

Similar techniques exist overseas as well: in Europe the pickled-herring "rollmops" is known, and in the Philippines "kinilaw" using calamansi juice is known.