【Reading】さけのいずし

【English Name】Salmon Izushi (Fermented Salmon Sushi)

Sake no izushi (salmon izushi) is a type of narezushi (fermented sushi) rooted in the region spanning from Hokkaido to the Hokuriku district, in which salmon and vegetables are lactic-acid fermented at low temperature together with rice koji as a winter preserved food. Its origin is said to date to fishermen's households beginning preparation around the time of the first snow; it was packed into barrels from late autumn to early winter and graced the table as a New Year's feast.

To make it, thin slices of salt-cured salmon are layered alternately in a barrel with cooked rice, koji, daikon radish, carrot, ginger, cabbage and the like, covered with bamboo leaves and weighted down with a stone, then slowly fermented in below-freezing temperatures. Because the low-temperature pickling period is comparatively short, its aroma is milder than other narezushi, and its great appeal lies in a refined flavor that harmonizes the rice-derived sweetness with lactic acidity.

Sake no izushi was also prized as a lucky food for its red-and-white coloring, and in the past the use of expensive salmon was a luxury permitted only to wealthy households. Although homemade preparation has become rare today, Hokkaido supermarkets and seafood processors preserve and pass on the traditional taste. In the Tsugaru region of Aomori Prefecture, an izushi using nemagaridake bamboo shoots and salmon has also been handed down through the generations.