Funa zushi ｜ Our Regional Cuisines

1. [Salting Step 1]
When the crucian carp is in, scrape off the scales. Remove the gills and remove the three bones.
Remove the guts, making sure not to damage the egg membrane.

2. [Pickling with salt Step 2]
Remove the gall bladder without crushing it. Remove the floating bag just below the backbone. Rinse with water and drain.

3. [Salting Step 3]
Stuff the oral and abdominal cavities of the crucian carp with salt, then sprinkle salt over the entire fish and place it in a tub to be pickled in salt. Put a weight on the vat and leave the vat in a salted condition for at least 2 months while the water is still rising.

4. [Pickling rice Step 1]
Cook rice and mix rice with salt (40-80g for 1 square of rice) (amount as needed; the more salt, the slower the fermentation rate. In many cases, salt is not added) and let cool to room temperature. If salt is not used, put the mixture in a plastic bag to keep out the air. Use 1 to 2 cups of sake or vinegar for the water.

5. [Pickling with rice Step 2]
Wash salt-cut crucian carp under running water and remove remaining scales and entrails with a bamboo spatula. Wrap the crucian carp in paper towels and drain well (hang upside down to drain the water from the abdominal cavity).

6. [Rice pickling Step 3]
Fill a tub with a pickle bag, spread rice, and arrange crucian carp on top of the bag so that they do not overlap. Put the rice on top of it and press firmly to expel the air. Continue to pile up the crucian carp, rice, crucian carp, rice, and so on.

7. [Rice pickling Step 4]
When the top of the vat is reached, press firmly and turn the three braided rings over the bamboo skin (close the pickle bag), put the lid on and put a weight (about twice the amount of weight as the contents).

8. [Pickling with rice Step 5]
After the pickling bed has become firm, fill the vat with water (in the case of pickles in a pickle bag, do not fill with water).
If the temperature is too hot, the vat should be cooled down because if the temperature is too high, the fermentation process will be too advanced and the vat will spring up and the weight will move. If it is too hot, the vat should be cooled down.