A oshizushihako is a box or mold used to make oshizushi (pressed sushi

Sushi

is a Japanese food consisting of cooked vinegared rice combined with other ingredients . Neta and forms of sushi presentation vary, but the ingredient which all sushi have in common is shari...

). The box is traditionally made from wood, but nowadays often made from plastic. The box can be taken apart into three parts, a bottom part, the rectangular walls, and a top part. Before use, the wooden box should be put in water so that the rice

Rice

Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...

 sticks less to the box. The bottom part and the top part can be covered with a layer of plastic foil for easier cleaning. The bottom part and the walls are assembled before the rice and the topping is added. Next, the top part is used to press onto the sushi, hence the name pressed sushi. For disassembly, the rectangular walls are pulled up while the top part still presses onto the sushi. After removing the top part the sushi is cut and can be served.

A variant of the oshizushihako has half cylindrical shapes cut from the thicker top and bottom parts so that the sushi is pressed in a cylindrical shape.

See also: List of Japanese cooking utensils