Sawara koko sushi

Sawara koko sushi is a dish made from locally caught sawara (Japanese Spanish mackerel). It has been made since the Meiji era, to celebrate the good catch and to wish for safety at sea. It is a dish commonly served at local gatherings also. It is said that people can make more than ten dishes from one sawara in Hinasecho area. The sawara caught in the outer sea is called “okurimono ”, and is differentiated from “jimono”, those caught locally.

for ５ persons

rice4 cups
konbu (kelp) for dashi (soup stock)10cm x 10cm
water4 and 1/2 cups

[ blended vinegar ]

vinegar6 tablespoon
sugar3 to 4 tablespoon
salt1 teaspoon

sliced sawara (fish）200g
salt1 teaspoon
vinegar1/2 cup
takuan (yellow pickled radish)200g
alaskan peas100g
leaf buds of Japanese peppera little

1.: Wash rice with water and leave in water for at least 30mins. Add konbu (kelp) and when cooking rice, and remove it before boil. Leave rice for about 10mins after cooked and let it steam. Transfer all rice to a sushi oke (a wooden bowl for sushi rice).
2.: Make blended vinegar. Pour on top of rice, use fan to cool it down while mixing the rice well.
3.: Cut sawara into small pieces like sashimi. Rub salt to surface and leave for about 10mins, then leave in vinegar. Take it out when surface turns white. Leftover vinegar will be used for blended vinegar.
4.: Cut takuan (yellow pickled radish) into strips of 4cm long. Wash with water and drain in a basket. Boil alaskan peas with salted water. Cut red pickled ginger into small strips.
5.: Mix sawara (3), takuan and alaskan peas (4) with cooled rice.
6.: Serve on a plate with leaf buds of Japanese pepper on top.

Information provided by : 岡山県郷土文化財団「おかやまの味」