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Tokushima Prefecture

Bouze no sugatazushi

Bouze no sugatazushi
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  • Image Source : "Tokushima's Local Cuisine" (Tokushima Prefecture)

Main lore areas

Southern part of Japan, all over the prefecture

Main ingredients used

Bouze

History/origin/related events

During the autumn festival season, "tadasushi," a type of sushi made by leaving various types of fish in their original form, is often eaten in Tokushima. Sushi rice is wrapped with fish that have been cut open on their backs. In addition to horse mackerel and konoshiro (white croaker), the main fish used in this dish is bouze, which was once considered a luxury fish. Bouze is a name in the Tokushima dialect, and is also called ibodai, uboze, or shizu, a white-fleshed fish caught from summer to autumn. Boze itself is eaten throughout Japan as grilled, boiled, or open fish, but it is only in Tokushima Prefecture, where fresh bouze is readily available, that it is eaten as sashimi. The fresher the fish is, the tighter the flesh is, making it easier to prepare as sashimi. However, the catch of bouze itself is currently on the decline, and mackerel and saury are increasingly being used to make this dish.

Opportunities and times of eating habits

During the autumn festival, sekihan (red rice), kakimazushi (mixed sushi), osuimono (soup), amazake (sweet sake), and sushi with the shape of bouze are served. In addition to being served as sushi with the shape of bouze still intact, it is also eaten as "bouze nigiri," which is made by filleting the fish, marinating it in salt and vinegar, and then making it into a nigiri with sushi rice.

How to eat

Cut open the back of the bouze, remove the bones, gills, eyeballs, blood, etc., sprinkle with salt, and let sit for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Then, soak the fish in vinegar for another hour, and make sushi by shaping sushi rice according to the size of the bouze and wrapping it in bouze. Sushi rice is sometimes made with aromatic ingredients such as sudachi or yuzu, which accentuate the fresh flavor. The finishing touches are made by pressing the rice with a weight for at least one day to allow the flavors to meld together.

Efforts for Preservation and Succession

In recent years, sushi has become more readily available at supermarkets during the autumn festival season. In addition, Tokushima Prefecture's website has published a recipe for bouze nigiri as "Fisherman's Table: Autumn and Winter," and has made efforts to increase awareness of the dish by introducing its origins and recipe in "Tokushima's Local Cuisine.

RECIPE

Ingredients (For 4 persons)

  • Bouze 8 fish
  • Salt 2 to 3 tsp.
  • vinegar 1 1/2 cups
  • Rice 300g
  • water 1 2/3 cups
  • [mixed vinegar] white sugar 3 tbsp.
  • [mixed vinegar] vinegar 1 1/3 tbsp.
  • [mixed vinegar] Yuzu vinegar 1 1/3 tbsp.
  • [mixed vinegar] salt Less than 1 tsp.
  • [mixed vinegar] umami seasoning a pinch
  • Wasabi paste 4g
  • sweet vinegar ginger As needed or 30g
  • sudachi (Japanese citrus fruit) 2 pieces

How to cook

  • 1. Remove the scales from the bouze and turn the head to the left.

  • 2. Open back to head. The belly bone can be softened by vinegar without forcibly removing it, but if it bothers you, leave it out.

  • 3. Cut open along the middle bone with the head to the right.

  • 4. Cut out the middle bone. Leave the dorsal, pectoral and tail fins as they will lose their shape if removed.

  • 5. Remove the gills and eyeballs, and rinse the fish under running water, excluding the blood.

  • 6. Sprinkle with salt and let stand for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

  • 7. Wash the bouze from step 6 in vinegar diluted with water, and soak in enough vinegar to cover the fish for 30 minutes to 1 hour. (You may add sugar to the vinegar if you like.)

  • 8. Drain off the vinegar from the bouze of 7.

  • 9. Wash rice and drain in a colander. Put the rice in a rice cooker, add water, and allow it to absorb water for 30 minutes in summer and 1 hour in winter before cooking.

  • 10. After cooking the rice, make the mixed vinegar and mix it with the rice.

  • 11. Divide the sushi rice into 8 equal portions, and form into balls the size of bouze. （Wrap the rice in bouze and lightly weigh down the top to make pressed sushi. Top with sliced sudachi and garnish with amazu ginger.

provider : "Tokushima's Local Cuisine" (Tokushima Prefecture)

* Recipes vary depending on the region and home.