Satsuma

A grilled white fish is flaked while still hot and worked into barley miso in a mortar, then thinned with a stock made from its own bones and ladled over warm barley rice with seasonal garnish — a smooth, easy-to-swallow dish. The fish varies by household and region: sea bream is common, but so are amadai, lizardfish, horse mackerel, barracuda, and sardine, and in the mountains even carp or dace, so it is by no means limited to a single white fish. Thin strips of lightly seasoned konjac, chopped scallion, and minced mandarin peel are common accompaniments.

The fish is grilled, flaked while hot, and worked together with barley miso in a mortar. Stock made from the leftover bones is stirred in to loosen the paste. Thin-cut, lightly seasoned konjac, rinsed scallion, and minced mandarin peel go on top of warm barley rice before the mixture is spooned over. Some households add cucumber as well.

In the southwestern cities of Uwajima and Ainan, barley rice was once the everyday staple, and the dish is said to have been devised by fishermen as a way to make that drier rice more palatable. Its name has several explanations — that it traveled from the old Satsuma domain, that the cross-cut rice in a bowl resembled the Shimazu clan's crest, or that it derives from a word for a husband helping his wife — though none is settled. Because it takes real effort to prepare, it is said to appear more often at local eateries today than in home kitchens.