【Reading】すがたずし

【English Name】Sugata-zushi (whole fish sushi)

Sugata-zushi is a general term for sushi finished in a form that preserves the whole shape of the fish. The basic method is to cure the fish in vinegar with the head and tail still attached, split it open from the belly or back, remove the innards, and stuff the resulting cavity with vinegared rice to shape it.

A representative example is the sugata-zushi of mackerel. In Kochi Prefecture, throughout the entire prefecture, the form of stuffing vinegared rice into mackerel split along the back and cured in vinegar is widely eaten. In the northern part of Hiroshima Prefecture and around Saijo in Higashihiroshima City, mackerel sugata-zushi also holds firm popularity, with the style of stuffing vinegared rice into the belly of vinegar-cured mackerel frequently seen. In the northern part of Okayama Prefecture as well, there is a history of head-on sugata-zushi being made at home.

Besides mackerel, sugata-zushi has been passed down as local cuisine in many places using local fish, such as Tokushima Prefecture's "bouze no sugata-zushi" (using butterfish). All of these are often served at festivals and celebratory occasions, and owing to the splendid appearance of the whole fish remaining intact, they have been positioned as feasts for special days.

In mountainous areas far from the sea, it is said that salt-cured fish was carried over the highways and, combined with that preservation technology, the culture of sugata-zushi developed. Even today, with refrigeration and transport technology advanced, it is handed down as the food culture of each region.