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Fermented sushi and cheese? Funazushi, Japan’s ancient raw fish dish, is getting an update

Makers of an endangered delicacy are adding cheese and putting it in sandwiches to give it fresh appeal. ‘It goes well with wine,’ one says

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Funazushi has been made with fermented carp from Japan’s largest lake for centuries. It is being prepared and served in new ways to appeal to young people. Photo: Shutterstock
Kyodo

An ancient type of fermented sushi called funazushi, considered by many to be the original form of the raw fish dish, is seeing a renaissance aimed at making it more palatable to younger generations and food lovers visiting Japan from abroad.

Funazushi, which has been served for centuries and uses round crucian carp fished from Lake Biwa in Shiga prefecture, western Japan, is characterised by its distinctive sour taste and pungent aroma.

The fish is endemic to Lake Biwa, the largest freshwater lake in Japan, but its population has suffered a serious drop because of the introduction of invasive species.

Concerned that the local culinary culture will die out, Mamoru Umemura, 52, looked to cheese, another fermented food, to conceptualise a modern take on funazushi.

Lake Biwa, in Shiga prefecture, is Japan’s largest freshwater lake and the source of round crucian carp, the fish used to make a fermented sushi called “funazushi”. Photo: Shutterstock
Lake Biwa, in Shiga prefecture, is Japan’s largest freshwater lake and the source of round crucian carp, the fish used to make a fermented sushi called “funazushi”. Photo: Shutterstock

Originally, funazushi was described as “Japanese cheese” because of its flavour. Umemura developed a new, less smelly “cheese funazushi” by stuffing them with cheese instead of roe.

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