【Reading】ささずし

【English Name】Sasa sushi

A general term for regional sushi that wraps vinegared rice and ingredients in the leaves of kumazasa (a type of bamboo grass). It is passed down in Ishikawa Prefecture as well as Nagano and Niigata Prefectures, but the forms differ. The Ishikawa Prefecture type is an oshizushi (pressed sushi) in which vinegared rice and toppings are wrapped between two kumazasa leaves, packed into a wooden box, and weighted down; it uses salmon, trout, sea bream, shiira (mahi-mahi), abura-age, and the like, garnished with sansho (Japanese pepper), ginger, sakura-ebi (cherry shrimp), and sesame. The Nagano/Niigata type (such as the Tomikura district of Iiyama City) is a style in which vinegared rice is mounded on top of a bamboo-grass leaf and topped with mountain vegetables and the like—a distinctive culture making use of mountainous-region ingredients. In both, it is a preserved food that takes advantage of kumazasa's antibacterial action and can be kept for several days in a cool, dark place. Because the rice hardens in the refrigerator, room-temperature storage is the rule.