【Reading】もろこずし

【English Name】Moroko Sushi

Moroko-zushi is a type of pressed sushi handed down in the Ama region of Aichi Prefecture and around Kaizu City in Gifu Prefecture. Using the freshwater fish honmoroko (true moroko) as the main material, this small fish belonging to the genus Gnathopogon of the carp family is pressed and firmed together with vinegared rice.

Honmoroko is a fish species originally endemic only to Lake Biwa, and is especially highly rated for its taste among Japanese carp-family fishes. As an adult it reaches a maximum body length of about 15 cm, living mainly on zooplankton and aquatic insects. Catches at Lake Biwa once continued at an abundant 150-350 tons per year, but from 1996 onward they followed a sharp downward trend, with a record of falling to about 5 tons in 2004. Along with the decline in catches, market trading prices also soared, and today it has come to be positioned as a rare high-grade ingredient.

Against this background, aquaculture has become active in Saitama, Yamanashi, Hiroshima Prefectures, Nakatsugawa City in Gifu Prefecture, and elsewhere. Moroko-zushi is a local dish reflecting the river-fish food culture of the Owari and Mino regions, and can be said to be a dish that passes on a locally rooted food tradition to the present day.