Hiraso

Hiraso traces its persimmon-leaf sushi back to 1865, when curing mackerel and wrapping vinegared rice in antibacterial kaki (persimmon) leaves let fishmongers carry fish inland from the Kii coast before it spoiled. The Nara branch, near Sarusawa Pond on the edge of Naramachi, has served the dish since the 1960s in a traditional wooden building with tatami seating. Kakinoha-zushi, bite-sized blocks of vinegared rice topped with cured mackerel or salmon and each wrapped and pressed in its leaf, remains Nara's best-known regional food.