Japanese cuisine · Fish & Seafood

Oshizushi

Sushi pressed in a wooden mold, Osaka-style: vinegar-marinated mackerel fillets over a firm block of rice.

Ingredients · for 4 servings

• 4 mackerel fillets
• 3 tbsp coarse sea salt
• 200 ml rice vinegar
• 400 g sushi or short-grain rice
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 piece kombu (10 cm)
• 1 sheet nori
• 1 lemon
• soy sauce, wasabi and pickled ginger to serve

Instructions

1. Cover the mackerel fillets thickly with the coarse sea salt and let sit for 1 hr. in the refrigerator so they lose water and firm up.
2. Rinse off the salt, pat the fillets dry and marinate for 30 min. in 150 ml rice vinegar with the kombu, then peel off the translucent silver skin starting from the tail end and remove the bones with tweezers.
3. Rinse the rice until the water runs clear, drain for 20 min., cook covered with 480 ml water for 13 min. and let steam for another 10 min.
4. Dissolve the remaining rice vinegar with sugar and salt, fold into the hot rice and let it cool to hand-warm until it holds together well.
5. Moisten the inside of the wooden mold (or a loaf pan lined with cling film), lay in the fillets skin-side down, press the rice firmly on top and press with the lid, weighted, for 20 min.
6. Turn out the block, slice into 2 cm wide pieces with a knife moistened before each cut, and serve with strips of nori, lemon wedges, soy sauce, wasabi and pickled ginger.