🍚 Kokera Zushi (Fish Flake Sushi)

"Kokera-zushi" is a regional dish eaten in the Nishiura Coast area of Awaji Island, featuring dried and shredded sea bream, beltfish, gurnard, and other ingredients placed on vinegar-seasoned rice and pressed into sushi. The name is thought to originate from the resemblance of the arrangement of shredded fish to the thin pieces of wood used in traditional roofing, known as "kokera." Another theory suggests that it comes from the verb "koru," meaning to finely chop, as the dried fish is painstakingly minced into small pieces, evolving into the term "kokera." In recent times, some variations use fresh fish, cooked and shredded, to create the "soboro,"(fish flakes) which is then used in Kokera-zushi.