Pan-Grilled Spanish Mackerel 鰆の塩焼き

We got one of the largest Spanish mackerels* we’ve ever had from Whole Foods (about 5 lbs.). As usual, we asked the fish monger to remove the head, tail, fins and gut it. I finished the preparation when I got it home by filleting the fish, removing the pin bones and gathering any residual meat by scraping the bones. I usually make miso-simmered 鯖の味噌煮 and ‘tsumire つみれ” fish balls. This time, since the fish was so big, I also prepared two nice deboned pieces  (from the mid section of the filets). I made “shio-yaki 塩焼き” or “salt grilled” fish using a frying pan. I served this with grated daikon or “daikon-oroshi  大根おろし” with soy sauce. This was particularly good; a nice thick but tender piece of meat with a nice flavor but no hint of fishiness. 

*Finding the appropriate Japanese name for the fish we can get in US can be difficult. Spanish mackerel may be close to “sawara 鰆”. Boston mackerel may be closer to Japanese “saba 鯖”. Certainly, Norwegian mackerel  is Japanese “saba” since it is imported to Japan as “saba”. We can get Norwegian mackerel here but it is usually cleaned and frozen. 

This is not a recipe but a record of how to pan-grill fish using a stainless steele frying pan and parchment paper. (I try not to grill fish using the toaster oven in order to avoid any lingering fishy smell.) Of course, a charcoal fire is the best but requires a bit too much work. 

Ingredients: (2 servings)
2 filet portions of Spanish mackerel (#1), with the skin scored to prevent the skin from breaking during cooking
Japanese sake and salt

1 inch segment of daikon, skin removed and grated, with the excess moisture pressed out
Soy sauce

Directions:
Place the two filets in a rimmed plate, top and bottom lined with paper towel. Pour in enough sake to throughly soak the top and bottom paper towels and refrigerate. 30 minutes before cooking, remove the paper towel and pat the filets dry. Sprinkle salt on both the flesh and skin sides. Cut some parchment paper to fit the frying pan. On medium flame, add the filets with skin side down (#2). Flip after 4-5 minutes or until half of the thickness of the flesh looks opaque (#3 and #4). Cook 3-4 minutes more or until the flesh becomes all opaque.

This method of using parchment paper works well; emulating grilling. Because of the parchment, the fish does not stick to the pan. This method can be used for marinated fish too. This is much easier than grilling or broiling using a toaster oven.

An Aside: We planted morning glories and moonflowers early in the spring and finally, we got a morning glory bloom…Just in time for the first frost?