【Reading】さきづけ

【English Name】Sakizuke

Sakizuke is a small dish that adorns the opening of a kaiseki meal or an omakase course. Corresponding to the amuse-bouche of French cuisine, it plays the role of setting the stage for the start of a course with a small amount of food that concentrates a sense of the season.

At sushi restaurants, it is notably served at high-end establishments offering omakase courses, with representative items including small bowls using trimmings of sashimi, and vinegared or simmered dishes that make use of seasonal ingredients. Sakizuke tends to be confused with "otoshi," but whereas otoshi is a light dish served in place of a seat charge at izakaya and the like, sakizuke is an appetizer that the chef prepares with the overall structure of the course in mind—so the two are very different in character.

In the flow of kaiseki, after the sakizuke comes the wanmono (soup) and then the mukozuke (sashimi), which is the basic structure. In a sushi shop's omakase, the established flow is to begin with sakizuke, proceed through tsumami (sake-accompaniments), and then move on to nigiri.