Inari 稲荷

A type of sushi rarely seen today — at first glance you have no idea what it is. (Modern Japanese may no longer think of it as sushi, but to anyone who honours tradition it is sushi through and through.)

You might let your hopes rise, wondering what seafood hides inside this mysterious pouch — a fish? a shellfish? Sadly, what's inside is simply vinegared rice.

The pouch itself is tofu pressed of its moisture and deep-fried, known as aburaage. For inari sushi the aburaage is simmered sweet and savoury; it goes surprisingly well with vinegared rice and has long been loved in Japan as a snack.

Aburaage is said to be the favourite food of the foxes of the Inari shrines, where it was offered up. That connection gave inari sushi its name, and from the Edo period it spread as food for the common people.

It has a strong place as a taste of home, so you do not often see it at high-end sushi restaurants.

Origin: none in particular (produced all over Japan) Season: none in particular (its season is the very moment you think "I could go for some inari sushi")