Braised canned Mackerel in brine with Daikon 大根と鯖の水煮

We really like mackerel simmered in miso sauce. I usually make it from fresh mackerel but it is a bit of work. The other  day when we were at our Japanese grocery store, I bought canned mackerel in miso sauce or "saba-no-misoni" サバの味噌煮 and mackerel in brine or "saba-no-mizuni" さばの水煮. We had the canned mackerel in miso sauce which was pretty good but as per my wife, she thought mine was much better. In any case, I decide to use up the remaining canned mackerel. I came up with this dish made with diakon and canned mackerel which is inspired by a recipe I saw on line. I also served seasoned kelp or "konbu-no-tsukudani" 昆布の佃煮 since I made it as the by-product kelp after I made Japanese dashi broth from kelp and bonito flakes.

I garnished it with green part of scallion finely chopped.

Here is another serving.

This kelp dish was not as strongly seasoned since we usually eat as a drinking snack rather than with rice.

This is canned mackerel in brine. I just noticed "Taste of Japanese Mom's cooking" on the can.

This is how it looked. The fish was cooked in brine with bone-in but bone is soft (probably pressure cooked). I tasted it and it was rather salty so I adjusted my seasoning accordingly.

Ingredients:
Diakon, 1/4, peeled and cut daikon in quarters lengthwise and sliced it1/4 inch thick. This is called "icho-ni-kiru" イチョウに切る since the shape is similar to the "icho" or ginko leaves.
One can of mackerel in brine.
Oil 2 tsp (I used light olive oil)
Soy sauce
Mirin
Scallion 2, finely chopped

Directions:
1. I added the oil and daikon pieces to the pan and sautéed for several minutes.
2. I added the mackerel and the brine to the pan.
3. Using a bamboo spatula, I broke the mackerel in small pieces and cooked on medium heat for 5-10 minutes.
4. I tasted it and added 2 tsp of light colored soy sauce and 1 tbs of mirin (the seasoning needs to be adjusted depending on how salty the brine is).
5. I kept cooking until the daikon was soft and the liquid reduced in half.

This was much better than I expected. The combination of daikon and fish was excellent. This is a perfect snack with sake. Between this dish and the seasoned kelp, the sake went down well.