Mackerel Pressed Sushi (Saba Oshizushi) 鯖押し寿司

Learn how to make beautiful Mackerel Pressed Sushi at home. This Saba Oshizushi has delicious layers of sushi rice, shiso leaves, and vinegar-cured mackerel seared aburi-style. Impress your family and friends with this simple and elegant dish.

How many types of sushi do you know? The most common kinds of sushi in Japan are nigiri sushi, maki sushi, temaki sushi, chirashi sushi, temari sushi, and Inari sushi. Have you tried them all already?

Today, I’ll introduce another popular variety called pressed sushi or oshizushi (押し寿司). Among this type of sushi, the most popular one is Mackerel Pressed Sushi or Saba Oshizushi (鯖の押し寿司), so let’s make it today!

What is Pressed Sushi (Oshizushi)?

Pressed sushi or oshizushi is made with sushi rice cured fish that are layered into a special box called oshibako (押し箱). The ingredients then are compressed together into a tightly pack sushi stack. Today’s Mackerel Pressed Sushi recipe features vinegar-cured mackerel, shiso leaves, and sushi rice.

You may have seen fancier pressed sushi with multiple layers of sushi rice, seafood, and other ingredients. Oshibako creates a perfectly rectangular shape, and if you are ambitious, you can make eye-catching pressed sushi with a checkered pattern using colorful toppings. Maybe someday for me!

Battera vs. Mackerel Pressed Sushi

Those of you who are from Osaka or have traveled there may have heard of battera (バッテラ)—a type of pressed sushi made with vinegar-pickled mackerel and sushi rice in a wooden box. What’s the difference between saba oshizushi and battera?

With battera, a superthin and almost translucent sheet of kombu is placed on top of the mackerel before it’s cut and served. The addition of kombu is unique to the regional Osaka cuisine.

The name “battera” doesn’t sound so Japanese, does it? That’s because the name derived from the Portuguese word bateria or “small boat” as the sushi made using the original method without the box looked very similar to a small ship from the side.

What You Need To Make Mackerel Pressed Sushi

1. Sushi Rice

When Japanese people talk about “sushi rice,” we’re referring to steamed rice seasoned with sushi vinegar called sushizu (すし酢). If you want to learn how to make sushi rice correctly from scratch, follow my recipe How To Make Sushi Rice with a video tutorial.

Sushizu is pretty simple to make with rice vinegar, sugar, and salt. However, did you know you can find two types of rice vinegar on the Japanese condiment isle? There’s regular rice vinegar, and then there’s “seasoned” rice vinegar that is basically sushi vinegar specifically made to quickly prepare sushi rice!

When you’re in a hurry, it’s really convenient to just reach for the ready-for-use sushi vinegar instead of whisking your own.

Today, I used Kikkoman Seasoned Rice Vinegar to make delicious sushi rice for this Mackerel Pressed Sushi recipe.

2. Vinegar-Pickled Mackerel (Shime Saba)

For this recipe, you will need a special type of mackerel, not a fresh one. Mackerel is known to spoil easily, so the best way to preserve the fish is to cure it with vinegar. Cured and marinated mackerel is called shime saba (しめ鯖) in Japanese.

You can easily find pre-marinated and packaged shime saba in the frozen section of Japanese or Asian grocery stores. The same brand shime saba I find is a bit cheaper at the Korean grocery store than the Japanese store in my area.

Since the mackerel fillet is uneven, being thicker in the middle and thinner toward the edge, I cut the fillet in half lengthwise and then butterfly each piece from the cut edge.

If you have a kitchen torch, I recommend searing the skin of the mackerel for an additional layer of flavor. When seared, we say aburi mackerel, aburi salmon, aburi toro, and so on. In Japanese, aburu 炙る is a verb; aburi 炙り is a noun and adjective.

3. Oshibako (Sushi Press)

You will need an oshibako (押し箱), or sometimes called oshizushihako (押し寿司箱) or hakozushigata (箱寿司型). It is a wooden box or mold, made of 3 parts: a bottom part, the rectangular walls, and a top part. The top and bottom parts resemble a traditional Japanese geta (wooden sandal).

Before you use the oshibako, you will need to moisten the three parts so the rice will not stick to them. To assemble, you place the bottom part and then the rectangular wall part. After you place the ingredients inside, position the top part and put all your body weight down to compress the sushi. You can remove the box once you finished pressing. Wash the mold thoroughly and allow it to dry.

Do we need oshibako to make pressed sushi?

For those of you who wish to try this recipe without using an oshibako, you can get away with your own makeshift box. Use a rectangular/square container or bento box lined with plastic wrap so you can pull out the sushi later. You will also need something flat that fits inside the box to press down the sushi.

You can find a plastic oshibako online, but I like my oshibako made with hinoki (Japanese cypress). It was my mom’s but I brought it back years ago. I love using traditional kitchen tools in my kitchen to keep the handicrafts alive and hopefully passing down the tradition to the next generation. You can find a similar oshibako on Amazon.

Ingredients for Saba Oshizushi

• uncooked Japanese short-grain white rice
• water – to cook the rice
• frozen marinated mackerel fillet (shime saba) – defrosted in the refrigerator overnight
• shiso leaves
• seasoned rice vinegar (sushi vinegar) – (I used Kikkoman® Seasoned Rice Vinegar; or make my homemade sushi vinegar with unseasoned rice vinegar, sugar, and salt

Variations and Substitutions for Pressed Sushi

You can use other types of fish, seafood, and veggies for oshizushi. Here are some ideas:

• smoked salmon – another popular variety as it’s easy to get!
• thinly sliced vegetables – use a vegetable peeler
• unagi (freshwater eel)
• thin egg crepe – you can make Usuyaki Tamago
• imitation crab
• cooked butterflied shrimp – like the one you find on nigiri sushi

Be creative! Let us know what ingredients you used in the comments section.

How To Make Mackerel Pressed Sushi

1. Cook the rice. Rinse the rice and soak it in water for 20–30 minutes, then drain completely. Cook the rice with a rice cooker, pot over the stove, Instant Pot, or donabe.
2. Season the cooked rice with the sushi vinegar and distribute it with a rice paddle, slicing at a 45-degree angle to separate the grains. Gently flip the rice between slices. Keep covered with a damp towel (or paper towel) until ready to use.
3. Cut the defrosted marinated mackerel fillet in half lengthwise. Butterfly the fillet from the long edge that you just cut. Please watch the video tutorial to see how I do this. Repeat with the other half.
4. [Optional] Sear the skin of the mackerel pieces on a ceramic plate with a kitchen torch.
5. Layer the ingredients in the sushi press. First, place the mackerel fillet at the bottom of the mold with the skin side down. Add the shiso leaves across the mackerel. Finally, add enough sushi rice to fill the mold just right above the rim.
6. Press down on the rice firmly with the top piece of the sushi press. Rotate the sushi 180 degrees and press down again firmly with your body weight.
7. Remove the sushi. Flip over the mold so the top piece is now at the bottom. Slide the sidewall of the sushi press down. Remove the top piece. Insert a knife to detach the sushi from the bottom piece.
8. Cut the saba oshizushi in half crosswise and cut each half into 3 pieces. Serve with pickled ginger.

5 Best Tips for Perfect Pressed Sushi

Here are my 5 best tips for making oshizushi. Practice definitely helps. As you make more oshizushi, your sushi will be neater and prettier. I could spend more time improving my oshizushi skills, too!

1. Moisten the oshibako and hands with vinegar water (it’s called tezu).
2. Add the fillings evenly, and don’t miss filling the four corners!
3. Press using your body weight, not just the arms and hands.
4. Use moistened cloth to wipe the knife every time you slice the sushi.
5. When you cut the sushi, the knife motion should be “push forward and pull”.

Whether your pressed sushi turn out perfect or slightly off shape, they will still look impressive at the dinner table. There is a touch of elegance to the presentation when sushi is shaped this way. I’d be so thrilled to see your creation, so please share your pictures with me!

Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want to look for substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here.

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Mackerel Pressed Sushi (Saba Oshizushi)

4.67 from 6 votes

Learn how to make unique and beautiful Mackerel Pressed Sushi at home. This Saba Oshizushi has delicious layers of sushi rice, shiso leaves, and vinegar-cured mackerel seared aburi-style. Impress your family and friends with this popular dish at your next sushi party.

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Video

Prep Time: 40 minutes mins

Cook Time: 40 minutes mins

Total Time: 1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Servings: 2

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1½ cups uncooked Japanese short-grain white rice (2 rice cooker cups, 360 ml)
• ▢ 1 frozen marinated mackerel fillet (shime saba) (defrosted in the refrigerator overnight)
• ▢ 6 shiso leaves
• ▢ 4 Tbsp seasoned rice vinegar (sushi vinegar) (I used Kikkoman® Seasoned Rice Vinegar; or make my homemade sushi vinegar below)

For the Homemade Sushi Vinegar (optional)

• ▢ 4 Tbsp rice vinegar (unseasoned)
• ▢ 2 Tbsp sugar
• ▢ 1 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt

Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here.

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Instructions

 

• Gather all the ingredients. For the rice, please note that 1½ cups (300 g, 2 rice cooker cups) of uncooked Japanese short-grain rice yield 4⅓ cups (660 g) of cooked white rice.
  

To Prepare the Sushi Rice

• Measure 1½ cups uncooked Japanese short-grain white rice. Rinse the rice under cold water by gently rubbing the rice with your fingertips in a circling motion. Submerge the rice in water and pour out the starchy water. Rinse and repeat until the water becomes clear.
  
• Soak the rice in water for 20–30 minutes.
  
• Drain the water completely and set aside for 10 minutes. If you don’t have time to wait, then shake off the excess water the best you can. Transfer the rice into the inner pot of your rice cooker.
  
• Pour water up to the 2 cups line for Sushi Rice (or a little bit less than 2 cups for regular White Rice, if you don’t have the Sushi Rice option) and start cooking. If you do not have a rice cooker, prepare 360 ml water (we use less water than regular rice as you will season the rice after the rice is cooked) and follow my recipe for how to cook rice in the Instant Pot or in the pot over the stove.
  
• Once the rice is done cooking, fluff with a rice scooper/paddle. Moisten a sushi oke/hangiri (a round, flat-bottom wooden tub) or a large bowl with water so the rice will not stick. Transfer the cooked rice into the sushi oke and spread out evenly so the rice will cool faster.
  
• To the hot rice, add 4 Tbsp seasoned rice vinegar (sushi vinegar) or the homemade rice vinegar; I used Kikkoman® Seasoned Rice Vinegar. (To make homemade sushi vinegar, combine 4 Tbsp rice vinegar (unseasoned), 2 Tbsp sugar, and 1 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt in a microwave-safe bowl and heat for 1 minute, or until the sugar is dissolved. Let it cool, then add to the hot rice.) Add more or less to your liking. With a rice paddle, slice the rice at a 45-degree angle to separate the rice grains instead of mixing. Meantime, use a fan to cool the rice so it shines and doesn‘t get mushy.
  
• Gently flip the rice in between slices. Repeat this process until the rice is cooled. Keep the rice covered with a damp towel (or paper towel until ready to use.
  

To Prepare the Mackerel

• Open the package of 1 frozen marinated mackerel fillet (shime saba) that you have defrosted. Cut the slab in half lengthwise.
  
• Butterfly the fillet from the long edge that you just cut. Please watch the video tutorial above to see how I do this. Repeat with the other half.
  
• [Optional] Place the mackerel pieces on a ceramic plate and use a kitchen torch to lightly sear the skin for a nice charred flavor.
  

To Make the Pressed Sushi

• Prepare a small bowl with water and add 1 Tbsp Kikkoman® Seasoned Rice Vinegar (or rice vinegar). Moisten your hands with this vinegar water so the rice won’t stick to them.
  
• Assemble the oshibako (sushi press) mold with the bottom base and side so the top is open. Moisten it with the vinegar water so the rice won’t stick to it.
  
• First, put the mackerel fillet at the bottom, skin side down. When the fillet is bigger than the box, cut off the excess and fill in all the voids if any.
  
• Then add 6 shiso leaves on top of the mackerel.
  
• Add the sushi rice from one side to the other. Using your fingers, fill the rice right into the corners and try to keep the amount of rice even all over.
  
• Add more rice if necessary and fill the mold just right above the rim.
  
• Place the top piece of the mold and use it to press down on the rice firmly.
  
• Rotate the mold 180 degrees and press down again firmly with your body weight.
  
• Flip the mold so the top piece is now at the bottom. Slide the sidewall of the mold down.
  
• Remove the top piece. If the fish is stuck to the top piece, use a knife to detach. Push up the bottom piece through the sidewall.
  
• The completed oshizushi is now on the bottom piece. Insert a knife to detach from the bottom piece.
  
• Cut the oshizushi in half crosswise and cut each half into 3 pieces. Serve on a plate and garnish with pickled ginger. You can repeat for another piece of mackerel. Clean the mold and moisten before making the second batch. Alternatively, you can use plastic wrap to avoid cleaning every time.
  

What to do with leftover Sushi Rice?

• You can make Temari Sushi or Hand Roll Sushi for a quick sushi fix. Or you can freeze the sushi rice up to 1 month.
  

Equipment

• Oshibako (Sushi Press)

Nutrition

Calories: 764 kcal · Carbohydrates: 131 g · Protein: 18 g · Fat: 11 g · Saturated Fat: 5 g · Cholesterol: 28 mg · Sodium: 1022 mg · Potassium: 165 mg · Fiber: 4 g · Sugar: 13 g · Calcium: 15 mg · Iron: 7 mg

Author: Namiko Hirasawa Chen

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Japanese

Keyword: mackerel, sushi

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