【Reading】さばのなれずし

【English Name】Saba Narezushi (Fermented Mackerel Sushi)

Saba no narezushi is a form of traditional preserved food in which salt-cured mackerel is layered with cooked rice and pickled, finished through lactic-acid fermentation. Belonging to the lineage of "narezushi" known as the prototype of sushi, it is a fermented food greatly differing in nature from today's nigiri sushi.

The birthplace of narezushi traces back to the fish-preservation techniques of Southeast Asia, and the dominant theory is that it took root in Japan riding on the spread of rice-cultivation culture. By the Nara period, records of sushi (sushi/sashi) already appear in literature, and in the Heian period it was known as a food accompanied by a strong fermentation smell. At that time it was generally common to remove the rice portion and eat only the fish.

Mackerel landed at Wakasa Bay was carried to Kyoto via the Saba Kaido (Mackerel Road). It is said to have been delivered over a full day while maintaining freshness by rubbing in salt. In the former Kutsuki Village (now Takashima City) in Shiga Prefecture and Obama City in Fukui Prefecture along the route, mackerel narezushi is still handed down today as a local specialty.

Those produced in Wakayama Prefecture are said to have a relatively short fermentation period, differing in flavor from long-maturation types like the funazushi of Shiga. Differences in pickling methods and degree of maturation by region give rise to the diversity of narezushi.