【Reading】つるべすし

【English Name】Tsurube Sushi

Tsurube-zushi (釣瓶鮨) is a type of fermented sushi (narezushi) made with ayu (sweetfish), and is considered one of the early forms of Japanese sushi culture. The name derives from the fact that the shape of the wooden barrel in which the ayu were pickled resembled a "tsurube," the bucket used to draw water from a well.

In terms of preparation, the ayu are split open at the belly, salted, then passed through vinegar; vinegared rice is packed into the bottom of the barrel, and the ayu are arranged on top, repeating this process to fill the barrel. Because ayu have thin flesh, the fermentation and maturation period is said to be about five days, and it is served in a state called namanare (half-fermented).

"Tsurube-zushi Yasuke," located in Shimoichi-cho, Yoshino District, Nara Prefecture, is a long-established shop whose signature dish is this tsurube-zushi, said to have been founded during the Bunji era (1185-1189). It is said to have long supplied the shogunate and the Sento Imperial Palace, and is also widely known as the setting of the "Sushiya no Dan" (Sushi Shop Scene) of the ningyo joruri and kabuki play "Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura."

The current Yasuke building is a wooden structure painted with bengara (red ocher) rebuilt during the Showa era, and operates mainly serving pressed sushi (oshizushi) made with wild ayu and kaiseki cuisine. The old narezushi method is no longer practiced today, but it remains an important presence as the source of the ayu sushi culture of the Yoshino region.