Saba-zushi is a traditional Japanese dish made from salted mackerel that has been pickled in vinegar. It can be served in various forms, such as sugata-zushi, bo-zushi and nigiri-zushi. Sugata-zushi is shaped like a mackerel, with its head and tail left intact. Bo-zushi, on the other hand, is prepared by removing the head and tail of the half-salted mackerel, then vinegaring it and placing it on vinegared rice before wrapping it in a bamboo skin.
The salting of the mackerel allowed fresh fish to brought inland, especially to Kyoto and Osaka, during the era before refrigeration was available.