Kusaya

In Japanese, kusaya means ‘rotten fish’ or something that smells bad. Much like the Swedish surströmming and the Scandinavian lutefisk, however, kusaya is better than its name would have us believe. Even though it is truly malodorous, its taste is often mild. It is made from horse mackerel or flying fish, which are cleaned, deboned, and placed in brine. The brine is often reused time and again, and it is said that some families jealously guard their special brine for generations. The fish is kept in the solution for up to twenty-four hours, after which it is placed in the sun to ferment for several days to bring out its inherent umami. It should be possible to keep properly preserved kusaya for years.