Kyoto

A traditional preserved food of the fishing town Ine. Its flavorful spicy taste goes well with rice

Ine Saba Heshiko

“Saba no Heshiko” is a specialty of Ine cho, a town located at the tip of Tango peninsula, Kyoto. It is the nukazuke (pickles made in brine and fermented rice bran) of fresh saba (mackerel). It is a preserved food eaten since long ago in the fishermen’s town famous of its funaya houses. The origin of the name is unclear, but the leading story is that fishermen called pickling fish in a barrel “heshikomu”, which turned into “heshiko”. Remove the rice bran from the heshiko briefly, cut into small pieces as you prefer and grill them. The unique spiciness goes well with rice. Making chazuke (tea on rice) with grilled heshiko on top of rice is also good.