A little of each town’s story

Saury sushi

From: A house in the forest and a southern sea: a day in Kushimoto

A close-up of the sliced saury sushi

A traditional dish of southern Wakayama. A butterflied saury is cured with salt and vinegar and pressed onto a bar of sushi rice. It developed as a way of preserving rice and fish, and was a treat for gatherings such as autumn festivals, New Year and ship launchings. A squeeze of yuzu or daidai in the curing vinegar makes it refreshing. Saury from the Kumano Sea is said to be firm and well suited to sushi. The one I bought at the roadside station was flavored with yuzu.

Sources: maff.go.jp

This moment in the journey

Flavors met for the first time

The Kushimoto feast was ready: carpaccio, saury sushi, grilled dried tuna, and tuna stomach simmered in sesame. When I poured a non-alcoholic all-malt beer, the foam ran over the glass. Oops.

First, the saury sushi. Under the vinegar-cured saury lay sushi rice scented with yuzu. Officially my new favorite pressed sushi. The tuna stomach sprinkled with green onions and the grilled dried fish were both flavors I had never tasted before. Meeting a taste for the first time is the real pleasure of traveling.

Kushimoto, where a sea like the tropics meets the old scenery of Japan. It was a place warm in its land and warm in its history.

Watch this scene on YouTube9:18

Read this scene in the full journey