The land around Lake Kasumigaura is wet, and the soil is rich, and lotus root has been grown here for a very long time. The lake itself gives up wakasagi. Field and water sit directly against each other here. This dish puts the two of them on one plate, which is the most direct statement a place can make about itself.

The fish are scaled, washed in salt water, patted dry, dusted with potato starch, and fried. The lotus root, carrot, and onion are sliced thin. Into the pickling liquid go finely chopped yuzu peel and rings of chili, and everything goes in together. Because the fish were fried first, the bones soften and the whole thing is eaten.

The wakasagi season runs from late July to late December, so the dish belongs to the second half of the year.

Until the early 1960s that fishing was done under sail. Hobikisen, boats with enormous sails, took the wind broadside and were pushed sideways across the water, dragging their nets behind them, and the lake was full of them. They are gone from the fishery now, replaced by engines. The pickling is unchanged: the vinegar keeps it, so it stays in the house for days, and people still eat it as an ordinary side dish without thinking about where the method came from.