Sabazushi(mackerel sushi) ｜ Our Regional Cuisines

1. Wash and cut the salted mackerel into 3 pieces, remove the skin, carefully remove small bones, and soak the mackerel in vinegar for a day and night.

2. Cook the rice.
Add 10% glutinous rice to make the rice sticky and shiny.
Add the dashi kombu just before turning on the rice cooker (if you do it early, the color of the kombu will appear on the rice under the dashi kombu).

3. Combine sugar, vinegar, and salt over heat to make vinegar mixture.

4. After the rice is cooked, 10-15 minutes later (when the rice is still hot), remove the rice from the sushi bowl and pour in the vinegar mixture from step 3 to make sushi rice.

5. While 4 is cooling, make the vinegar mixture for soaking the oshizushi container and soak the entire container (to prevent the plastic wrap from sticking to the container).

6. Remove the bamboo peels with the vinegar mixture for soaking the oshizushi container.

7. Make the chopped ginger and the shredded yuzu peel.

8. When the sushi rice from step 4 has cooled, divide into 10 equal portions (9 pieces for large mackerel).

9. Remove the vinegared mackerel from the vinegar and pat dry.

10. Place a large piece of plastic wrap on a table, place the lid under the container, place the container of 5, place a large piece of plastic wrap inside the container, and spread it out neatly and flatly so that there are no wrinkles all over.

11. Place the mackerel skin side down in the container, place either the ginger or yuzu peel from 7 in the center of the mackerel in a row along the backbone, place the equally divided sushi rice from 8 evenly and neatly in the container, cover the top lid, and press the sushi rice down firmly so that it does not lose its shape.

12. Fold up the 11 pieces of plastic wrap, press through, remove the lid, and neatly wrap the other side and the front side of the plastic wrap together, followed by the left and right sides of the plastic wrap.

13. Place 12 on the bamboo wrapper, again neatly wrap the other side and the front side, then the left and right sides, and fasten with rubber bands.

14. Let sit for one day.

15. Cut into pieces and place on a serving dish.
Note: When cutting, leave the plastic wrap on and cut mackerel side up.