【Reading】さわらおしぬきずし

【English Name】Sawara oshinuki sushi

Sawara oshinuki-zushi is a member of the pressed sushi family, in which vinegar-cured slices of Japanese Spanish mackerel (sawara) are layered with vinegared rice, packed into a wooden mold, and shaped by being pushed out from above. It is widely known as a local dish nurtured in regions along the Seto Inland Sea, beginning with Okayama Prefecture.

To make it, the sawara is salted and then soaked in vinegar to cure it; vinegared rice is laid in the wooden mold and layered, then pushed out from the mold to finish. The molds are often decorative, such as leaf shapes and flower shapes, and it has been served at festivals and celebratory occasions. Vinegar-curing (su-jime) is a traditional cooking method that has been widely applied to hikarimono (silver-skinned fish) and the like in Edomae sushi as well, and pressed sushi itself is counted among the old forms of sushi that existed before nigiri sushi appeared.

Sawara is mainly treated as a winter neta in Edomae sushi, but in the Seto Inland region the haru-sawara (spring sawara) caught in spring is prized, and the perception of its season differs by region. Oshinuki-zushi shares the same lineage as the hako-zushi (box sushi) developed in Osaka as pressed sushi, but the unique process of pushing them out one by one with a dedicated mold gives this dish its own distinctive individuality.