Update: Adriel said we can use his gif (yay!), so scroll down to the end of the article for some funazushi eating action.
Note: This is a translation of my article published in Portuguese and Japanese on this very blog in August. Madeline suggested that I translate it into English. Hope you guys enjoy it.
Adriel’s (Our CIR from the US) stay in Shiga will be over at the end of this month and since until now we didn’t have a chance to try Shiga’s most famous dish, the proverbial Funazushi, we kinda decided to take the opportunity. Funazushi is one of the many types of narezushi, fermented sushi, and is ideally made using a kind of crucian carp, called nigorobuna, that can only be found in Lake Biwa. Like all fermented dishes, not everyone is a fan (I was actually quite surprised that my supervisor has never ever tried it, even though he’s a local), and while other fermented foods like nattô are widely consumed daily by a majority of Japanese people, aside from not being very popular, funazushi’s production is restricted to Shiga for many reasons.
今月末滋賀県庁のアメリカの国際交流員アドリエルさんの勤務が終わります。私たちは今まで滋賀県の名物、鮒寿司（ふなずし）を味わう機会がなかったので、一緒に食べに行きました。鮒寿司というのは熟れ寿司（なれずし）の一種で、発酵したお寿司のことです。一般的に琵琶湖固有種であるニゴロブナ（煮頃鮒）で作られます。発酵した物なので、多くの人の口に合わない料理の一つと思われます。（国際室の日本人担当者は食べたことがないと知ってビックリしました!滋賀出身なのに！）。しかし、多くの日本人が毎日食べている納豆などのような発酵した食べ物と違って、鮒寿司の生産はいくつかの理由で滋賀独特のものであり、あまり流行していません。
One of the facts behind this, other than that nigorobuna can only be caught on the Lake, is that its numbers have greatly diminished over the years. This species is known for reproducing near the yoshi plants, a kind of reed that is also less common nowadays. This leaves less places for the young fish to hide without becoming prey to foreign species, like the black bass and the blue gill, both brought to the lake decades ago without any thought being given to the impact they would cause on the fauna. Today, in order for the nigorobuna not to disappear, many measures are being taken, including releasing a great number of young fish into the lake, raising the amount of yoshi reeds, and reducing the foreign fish population.
その理由の一つは材料が手に入りにくいからです。ニゴロブナという魚は琵琶湖にしか生息しない上、数もかなり減ってきました。なぜかと言うと繁殖の場となるヨシの数も減って、小魚の隠れる場所がなくなり、環境のことを考えずに数十年前に琵琶湖に導入されたブラックバスやブルーギルという外来魚の餌になってしまうからです。近年ニゴロブナがなくならないようにいくつかの対策が取られており、稚魚の放流、ヨシの数を増やすことや外来魚の数を減らす取り組みなどが行われています。
(Nigorobuna released by the children that embarked on Umi no Ko)
湖の子に乗船した子供に放流されたニゴロブナ
So how is funazushi made? I’ll try to explain briefly. First, nigorobuna full of roe is cleaned by taking off the scales and guts, after which they are filled with salt. The fish is then preserved in salt for at least two months, later being brushed and washed with care using running water. After being wind dried for many hours, the fish are filled with cooked rice, usually Omimai (rice from Shiga), and lined in rows inside a barrel which has already been filled with more cooked rice. The fish are then covered with even more rice, and the process repeated until you run out of fish. After covering the barrel with a lid, a weight is put on top of it and the mixture is left to ferment for many months. Then, finally, funazushi is ready! This process is called “Iizuke”, which means “preserve using rice” in Japanese.
さて、ふな寿司はどうやって作りますか？簡潔に説明してみます。まず、卵もちニゴロブナの鱗や内臓を取り、塩を詰めて二ヶ月以上漬けます。そのあと、魚をたわしできれいにし、水道水で塩分を落とし、風通しのいい場所で数時間干します。次は、ごはん（近江米）を魚の中に詰め、既に桶の底に敷かれたご飯の上に並べ、ご飯をかぶせます。さらにご飯詰めした塩きりを並べて繰り返します。最後に桶に蓋をちゃんとして、漬物石を上に載せ、数ヶ月発酵させ、いよいよ出来上がり！それは飯漬け（いいづけ）といいます。
Now to the part you guys probably want to hear about: What does it taste like? The taste reminds me more of some kinds of blue cheese than fish, with a light sweet and acidic flavor with notes of vinegar. Other than sake from Shiga, I think it would go well with many types of wine. We were drinking beer though, so we kept ordering that.
じゃ、今、皆さんが一番知りたいことだろう：味はどう？個人の意見ですが、魚の味よりブルーチーズっぽくて、ヴィネガーのような酸味と甘みもあります。地酒はもちろん、ワインなども合いそうです。私たちはずっとビールを注文していたので、ビールを飲みながらいただきました。
Here you can see a gif of my first try. If you just look at my face, you can probably tell how H-A-P-P-Y ^_^ I was to taste something so delicious! I think one of the most interesting aspects of living abroad is to try food when you have absolutely no idea what it tastes like. It has been a long time since I felt like that, so I had a lot of fun during this experience, even though it was a little bit weird at the first slice. To make it even more fun, I recommend that you try it, if possible, at the house of someone who’s made it. In our case, we had to do it at a restaurant.
下のgifは鮒寿司の初体験のようすです。表情を見るだけで分かる「し・あ・わ・せ」ですね。外国に住む最高のことの一つはやっぱり味の想像もつかない食べ物をはじめて食べることだと思います。ですから、鮒寿司もすごく楽しめました。最初の一切れはちょっと違和感もありましたが。
ただ、鮒寿司を作った人の家で食べれば楽しさ倍増なので、出来ればそれをやってみてください。私たちは居酒屋で食べてしまいましたけれど。
Although I can’t see myself buying it anytime soon to try at home (mostly because it’s on the expensive side), I definitely want to try it again if I have another chance.
早速、購入して家でいただくことは（高いから）しませんが、又食べる機会があれば是非食べてみたいと思います。
What about you? Did you guys try funazushi already? What was your experience like? Share it in the comments!
では、皆さん、鮒寿司を食べたことがありますか？鮒寿司を食べた方、ここでコメントして、その経験を語ってね。
Rodrigo
ホドリーゴ
Bonus gif: Adriel’s first slice
Yo! Biwako 