【Reading】かくずし

【English Name】Kakuzushi

Kaku-zushi is a local dish passed down from the area near Hiroshima City in Hiroshima Prefecture through the Geihoku region (parts of Yamagata District and Akitakata City) to southwestern Shimane Prefecture. Classified as a type of pressed sushi (oshi-zushi), it looks markedly different from the oshi-zushi known in Osaka.

The method begins by cooking rice somewhat firm, cutting in a mixed vinegar of vinegar, sugar, and salt to make vinegared rice, and packing it into a square wooden mold. For fillings, it is common to cut vinegar-cured mackerel (shime-saba), thin omelet, and sweet-and-savory simmered shiitake mushrooms into diamond shapes (roughly 1 cm or smaller). Adding denbu (seasoned fish flakes), kinome (sansho leaves), and simmered shucked clams (asari) makes the coloring richer.

It is often served on occasions where many guests are entertained, such as Buddhist memorial services, festivals, and banquets. At some local supermarkets it is made and sold in-house as a prepared dish or boxed lunch, and it is a familiar food for people from the Asakita Ward and Geihoku areas. There are also cases where it is sold alongside rice balls and inari-zushi at udon shops.