---
title: Saury sushi
url: https://karigurashijourney.com/en/notes/saury-sushi/
lang: en
journey: https://karigurashijourney.com/en/episodes/kushimoto/
---

# Saury sushi

A little of each town’s story　/　Kushimoto, Wakayama

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.

## 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.

![A close-up of the sliced saury sushi](https://karigurashijourney.com/img/kushimoto/s132-1200.jpg)
- Sources: https://www.maff.go.jp/j/keikaku/syokubunka/k_ryouri/search_menu/menu/sanma_zushi_wakayama.html

Read this scene in the full journey: https://karigurashijourney.com/en/episodes/kushimoto/