Rice dishes ── Sushi
Battera
Battera — vinegared mackerel pressed sushi wrapped in kelp
Thin slices of vinegared mackerel and white kelp sheet are pressed together in a wooden mold. A sushi shop in Minami-Senba is said to have devised it in 1891, naming it after the Portuguese word for a small boat because the original version, made with konoshiro, resembled one.
- Origin: Osaka City, Osaka
- About 400 km west of Tokyo
Lineage
What it's made of
This pressed sushi layers thin slices of vinegar-cured mackerel and white kelp over vinegared rice, pressed into shape in a wooden mold. Unlike Edo-style nigiri, the firmly pressed rice and the fragrance of the kelp build up in layers, said to carry enough flavor to eat without dipping in soy sauce. Packed with Osaka's own culture of pressed sushi and kelp, it's said to be a dish deeply familiar to the people of the prefecture, sold at restaurants and shops across the city as everyday food, it's said.
How it's made
Rice is tossed briskly with seasoned vinegar as if cutting it, then cooled; the cured mackerel has its skin removed and bones pulled before being sliced thin. The mackerel is laid in a wooden mold, packed with vinegared rice, and pressed from above. It's wrapped in kelp moistened with vinegar, cut into pieces, and served with sweet vinegared ginger, it's said. Because it can be eaten without soy sauce, it's said to be handy for takeout or as a gift.
Why it took this shape
While Edo favored nigiri, pressed sushi made in boxes or wooden molds is said to have become the Kansai standard, and battera is said to be the most popular example among them. It originally used konoshiro, a fish caught in Osaka Bay, and its name is said to come from the Portuguese word for a small boat, since a fillet-shaped piece of sushi resembled one. It gradually shifted to the more accessible mackerel, and the mold reportedly came to take the shape of a rectangular box as well.
Before you go
- How to read a vertical menuIn shops with strips of handwritten menu items on the wall, the top-right spot is often used for recommendations.
- How to use a convenience storeA quick guide to choosing rice balls and hot snacks, buying coffee, paying by cash, IC card, or tap payment, using the eat-in corner, and sorting your trash — the basics for a first visit.
- How to shop at a supermarketHow to choose prepared foods, sashimi, and packaged sushi, when discount stickers tend to appear, region-only specialties, buying by weight, the checkout and bagging flow, and sampling etiquette at a local supermarket.
Dishes in the same style
- Aburi-zushiNigiri with just its surface flash-seared by torch or hot iron. Unlike Edomae's shigoto curing for keeping, the searing here is done purely for the change in aroma and fat it brings — a relatively recent way of eating sushi.
- Aichi HakozushiVinegared rice is packed into a wooden frame, topped with shrimp, eel, shiitake, and egg arranged diagonally, and pressed. Placing toppings on the diagonal so everyone gets a fair share of each is said to be a feature of the Owari and western Mikawa style, made for celebrations.
Ingredients and dishes from this land
Root style
Also from Osaka
- AkanekoSteamed sticky rice pounded with wheat flour is dusted with sugar and soybean flour — also called hangesho mochi, for the rite marking the end of rice planting. The whole-ground wheat flour once left the mochi brownish, said to resemble a cat's round back and give the dish its name.
- Beni Shoga TenThin slices of red ginger, pickled in plum vinegar, are battered and deep-fried. The plum vinegar's tang and the ginger's bite are said to suit drinks well, and the fritter appears as a one-sen tempura in Sakunosuke Oda's 1940 novella 'Meoto Zenzai,' evidence of how long it has fed ordinary Osakans.
- Beni-zuiki to Aburaage no TaitanBeni-zuiki, reddish taro leaf-stalks that can grow to 2 meters tall, is soaked in vinegared water to remove its bitterness, then simmered with fried tofu in dashi and soy sauce — a summer obanzai dish. Its spongy cross-section is said to soak up flavor well, and it has been named a Naniwa specialty product.
- Dote YakiParboiled beef tendon simmers for a long time against a bank of miso and mirin piled around the pan's edge like a levee, or dote. Rich and sweet-savory, it pairs well with drinks and is said to be a beloved downtown Osaka food, with many shops concentrated in the Shinsekai district.
- EhomakiA thick sushi roll eaten whole and in silence while facing the year's auspicious direction on Setsubun, the last day of winter. Its origin is not settled, but theories passed down include a game among the geisha quarters and a prayer for prosperity by Osaka's Semba merchant houses.
- Gaccho no KaraageGaccho, small fish of about 10-20cm from Osaka Bay including dragonet species, are filleted matsuba-style, dusted in potato starch, and deep-fried whole, bones included. Long enjoyed as a snack or with drinks, they are said to be a specialty of the Senshu coast.