🍚 Mackerel hakozushi (pressed sushi)

This local dish is made in the Izu region for special days such as festivals. As it was originally made as a meal for fishermen, it uses locally caught mackerel. The fish is broken into small pieces, then seasoned and fried into a kind of mince (known locally as oboro). This is then laid on top of vinegared sushi rice in a serving box, along with stewed vegetables such as carrots or shiitake mushrooms, to make hakozushi - literally, box sushi. When the Buddhist priest Nichiren was exiled to Izu by the Kamakura shogunate in 1261, the fishermen who sheltered him gave him his morning and evening meals in multi-tiered boxes. This is said to be the origin of hakozushi. The oboro mince uses locally caught mackerel, but this varies depending on the region - scad (horse mackerel) or golden eye snapper (alfonsino) are also used.