【Reading】さばのはこずし

【English Name】Mackerel Box Sushi (Saba Hakozushi)

Saba no hako-zushi (mackerel box sushi), which achieved distinctive evolution in Osaka, is counted among the representative styles of pressed sushi. Its method is characterized by stacking vinegar-cured mackerel and vinegared rice in a wooden pressing frame and applying pressure with a lid to shape it. The cookbook "Ryori Komoku Chomisho," which came out in 1728 (Kyoho 13), specifically recorded the use of vinegar in box sushi, and it is highly valued as a source of sushi culture dating back about 100 years before the appearance of Edomae nigirizushi.

The essence of this sushi is found in the pressing process. Vinegar-cured mackerel fillets are arranged at the bottom of the wooden mold, vinegared rice is packed on top, and it is pressed firm evenly with a lid. As the internal air is forced out, preservability improves, and as the rice and ingredients meld over time, the umami deepens. In Osaka it is affectionately called "ni-sun roku-bu no kaiseki" (a feast of two sun and six bu), and it has long been prized over many years as a makunouchi bento for theater-going or as a gift.

In speaking of the lineage of box sushi, battera is indispensable. The theory that it was created by "Sushitsune" in Minami-Semba, Osaka, around 1891 (Meiji 24) is widely known, and it differs from box sushi in placing a thin shiraita-kombu (white kelp sheet) on top of the mackerel and pressing it. Although the wave of nigirizushi surged into Kansai as well, triggered by the Great Kanto Earthquake, box sushi maintains a firm position even now as a signature menu item of specialty shops, embodying Osaka's food culture. The material used is mainly chub mackerel (masaba), and the autumn-to-winter period when the fat is richly built up is considered the best eating time of fullest umami.