While sushi elsewhere is usually synonymous with nigiri, in Osaka oshizushi, or pressed sushi, has traditionally ruled the roost. In oshizushi, vinegared sushi rice and various toppings are placed in a mould and pressed together into a tight stack. The origins of the dish go back to the mid-19th century, when Yoshino Sushi, a small shop in the city’s bustling Senba district, developed hakozushi or ‘box sushi’.
The Yoshino chefs started placing ingredients in layers inside conveniently sized wooden boxes, with the resulting cake then cut into bite-sized pieces. Pleasing to both the eyes and the taste buds, these sushi boxes became popular gifts and helped establish oshizushi as a quintessential Osaka delicacy.
Now surrounded by glass-and-steel office buildings and run by the seventh generation of the founding family, Yoshino Sushi still does a roaring trade in its fancy boxes. According to shopkeeper Takuji Hashimoto, the secret to making delicious oshizushi is in the time-consuming process of preparing the ingredients. ‘For example, we salt the sea bream and leave it to rest for a day to bring out its umami flavour, while our shiitake mushrooms are cooked for five hours and then left to sit for a day to let the flavours blend,’ he says. ‘All those hours of labour are condensed into our hakozushi.’
Yoshino’s most popular product is the standard Hakozushi box (¥1,760), filled with conger eel, sea bream, shrimp, omelette, shiitake mushrooms, nori seaweed and more – a gorgeous blend of colour, texture and taste. Other types of oshizushi include single-topping varieties such as sea bream, mackerel and crab, as well as mushizushi (steamed sushi), a dish eaten warm and sold especially during the winter months.