Kokera sushi may be the rarest sushi you have never heard of.
Only available fresh on Saturdays (from around 9:00 to 12:00) at a small morning market in the seaside town of Toyo, kokera sushi is unique to this region of Kochi Prefecture, and most closely resembles a “sushi cake,” where the ingredients are layered and then pressed in tall, specially-made wooden boxes.
The rice used as the base for this “cake” is mixed with juice from yuzu (a sour citrus fruit that grows rampant across the prefecture) and flaked mackerel. On top the design is created by placing slivers of omelet, shiitake mushrooms, and both carrot rounds and tops. To finish it off and make sure the mosaic of ingredients is securely pressed down, the cook then places a thin wooden board over it, and then does the same for the next layer. A thick wooden cover is used weigh down the top of the special kokera sushi box, and they allow it to sit for a couple hours.
This creates large large sheets of colorful sushi that can be cut up into rectangular, bite-size sushi and shared with a crowd.
While this may seem very time consuming when compared with the more commonly seen nigiri sushi, kokera sushi was meant to feed big groups of people at festive occasions, such as weddings.
Unfortunately, over the years the number of people who knew how to make this local delicacy started dropping rapidly. In 2018, a group of women came together to preserve their beloved traditional dish, offering classes and selling kokera sushi at None Kitchen, a small roadside market.