Ayu Rousui (Tokushima Sweetfish and Vegetable Rice Porridge)
Quick answer
- Total time
- 65 min
- Level
- Medium
- Servings
- 4 servings
- Ingredients
- 11
About this dish
Rousui comes from the Katsuura area of Tokushima, and the word is said to be a local form of zosui, Japanese rice porridge.
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Whole sweetfish are laid over rice, potato and eggplant as they simmer, and their aroma goes into the broth. Once cooked, the fish move to a plate to be picked clean of even the fine bones before the flesh returns to the pot. Broken up in the pot, those bones would be hard to find.
Ingredients
Instructions
- 1
Rinse 150g rice gently until the water is mostly clear and drain for 15 minutes.
Cut 150g potato into 1.5cm fan-shaped pieces.
- 2
Halve 100g eggplant lengthwise and slice 5mm thick; thinly slice 120g onion.
Trim and separate 100g shimeji, cut 100g chives into 2cm lengths, and slice 1 sudachi into thin rounds.
- 3
Scale 4 ayu and inspect the gills and bellies for grit.
If grit is present, remove the gills and guts and rinse briefly; otherwise leave the bellies intact, wash the surfaces, and dry completely.
- 4
Put the rice, 1600ml water, potato, eggplant, onion, and shimeji in a wide shallow pot.
Bring to a boil, stir the bottom once to release the rice, reduce to low, and simmer for 15 minutes.
- 5
When a chopstick enters the potato halfway, lay the ayu over the vegetables without overlapping.
Cover and cook over low heat for 10 to 12 minutes, confirming the thickest flesh reaches at least 63°C.
- 6
Transfer the ayu carefully to a wide plate and remove heads, backbones, fine bones, and fins, leaving only flesh.
Dissolve 80g nesashi miso in a ladle of broth, return it to the pot, and stir gently without crushing the rice.
- 7
Return the ayu flesh with the chives and warm over low heat for 2 minutes.
Turn off the heat, add the sudachi rounds, divide among 4 bowls, and sprinkle with a share of 1g shichimi.
References checked
These references were consulted when this page was prepared or corrected. A source check does not mean the recipe was independently kitchen-tested.
- 일본 농림수산성 うちの郷土料理
徳島文理大学短期大学部 長尾 久美子 · Checked: 2026-08-11
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