Makes 1 battera (16 pieces)
Battera, a speciality from Osaka, is one of the most popular sushi in Japan. It is made in a container or moulded into a log with a sushi mat and cut into small pieces. In restaurants and shops, it often comes wrapped up with a transparent sheet of kombu (dried kelp).
INGREDIENTS:
1 medium fresh mackerel, about 400 g, filleted
3-4 tablespoons Japanese rice vinegar
½ quantity vinegared rice
Salt
Hand vinegar:
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
125 ml water
To serve:
Pickled ginger
Japanese soy sauce (shoyu)
A wooden mould or rectangular plastic container, 18x12x5 cm
HOW TO MAKE:
1. Start the preparation for this dish a few hours before cooking the rice. Take a dish larger than the fish fillets and cover with a thick layer of salt. Put the mackerel fillets, flesh side down, on top of the salt and cover completely with more salt. Set aside for 3-4 hours. Remove mackerel and rub off the salt with damp kitchen paper. Carefully remove all the bones with tweezers, then put into a dish and pour the rice vinegar over the fillets. Leaves to marinate for 30 minutes.
2. Make the vinegared rice (sumeshi). Mix the hand vinegar ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
3. Using your fingers, carefully remove the transparent skin from each fillet, starting at the tail end. Put the fillets, skin side down, on a cutting board and slice off the highest part from the centre of the flesh so the fillets will be fairly flat. Keep the trimmings.
4. Line a wet wooden mould or rectangular container with a large piece of cling film.
5. Put a fillet, skin side down, in the mould or container. Fill the gaps with the other fillet and trimmings. Dip your fingers in the hand vinegar, then press the cooked rice down firmly on top of the fish. Put the wet wooden lid on top, or fold in the cling film and put a piece of cardboard and a weight on top.
6. You can leave it in a cool place (not the refrigerator) for a few hours. When ready to serve, remove from the container and unwrap any cling film. Take a very sharp knife and wipe it with a vinegar-soaked cloth or piece of kitchen paper. Cut the block of sushi in 4 lengthways, then in 4 crossways, making 16 pieces in all.
7. Arrange on a plate, and serve with pickled ginger and a little soy sauce in small individual dishes.
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