【Reading】げんなりずし

【English Name】Gennari sushi

A regional dish passed down in the Inatori district of Higashiizu Town, Shizuoka Prefecture, it is a type of oshizushi (pressed sushi) made primarily with kinmedai (splendid alfonsino). Its most striking feature is its size, having enough volume that a single one fills you up.

Kinmedai fishing has been carried out in Inatori since the Meiji era, and red-and-white soboro (locally called "oboro") made from this fish is placed on vinegared rice and pressed into shape with a mold. It has been a custom for each household to make it by hand for celebratory occasions such as weddings, shichi-go-san, coming-of-age ceremonies, ridge-raising ceremonies, and ship-launching ceremonies, and to distribute it to relatives and neighbors.

The basic form is a set of two pieces in red and white, but there is also a five-color assortment that adds lean tuna (red), simmered shiitake (black), and tamagoyaki (yellow). The version sold around 2014 was sized to make two red-and-white pieces from one go of rice, yet even this is considered a downsized version; in the past it was said to be about 1.5 times larger. When all five colors are assembled, the total amount of rice reaches about five go.

The name derives from the fact that one becomes "gennari" (dejected/overwhelmed) from eating something so large. There is another theory that one becomes gennari just from looking at it before eating. Today it can be enjoyed not only in homes but also at restaurants.