Chilean Sea Bass in Sweet “Saikyo” Miso メロの西京味噌焼き

We have posted about Chilean sea bass or Patagonian tooth fish* previously. This time, I made sweet “Saikyo-miso 西京味噌” marinated Chilean sea bass. I am experimenting with various methods to “grill” fish in a frying pan using parchment paper. This method worked very well and emulates grilling. The miso marinade made a nice brown crust but did not burn. The fish meat came out flaky, moist and pleasantly oily. The sweet miso made a nice savory crust and the flavors really went well together. I served this with shredded cabbage (lately I have been using Taiwanese cabbage which is closer in texture to the Japanese variety) with Campari tomato dressed with a mixture of ponzu shoyu ポン酢醤油, olive oil, and a splash of dark sesame oil and Dijon mustard which I added to the dressing mostly as an emulsifier.  In the picture the dark object on the left lower part of plate is boiled edible chrysanthemum 春菊 dressed with concentrated Japanese noodle sauce and topped with bonito flakes 鰹節. We also had a bowl of freshly cooked rice. We really enjoyed this combination.

*Japanese name is “Mero メロ” which appears to originate from a spanish name in Chile or “Gin-mutsu 銀ムツ”.

This time we had an appropriate sweet white miso called “Saiyo miso 西京味噌 (#1 in the composite picture)” famous in Kyoto. So this dish is called “Saikyo miso marinated” without qualification.

Ingredients (two servings):
2 filets of Chilean sea bass, thawed and patted dry

Marinade:
3 tbs Saikyo miso
2 tsp sugar
1 tbs Mirin (or more until the marinade consistency is spreadable but not too runny)
Yuzu zest (optional, I used the last of the frozen yuzu zest)

Directions:
Cover the cutting board with plastic wrap. Place the filets on the plastic wrap and smear the marinade thinly on the back of filets. Turn them over and smear the marinade covering the rest of the filets. Wrap the marinade covered filets tightly in the plastic wrap (#3). Marinate in the wrap at least 20 minutes to a few hours in the refrigerator. 
Cut a piece of parchment paper to cover the bottom of a frying pan (#2)
Unwrap the filets and scrape off the majority of the excess marinade from the surface of the filet leaving only a thin layer of the marinade on the fish (#4)
Place the filet on the parchment paper in the pan.
Cover the pan with a lid and cook on a medium low heat for 5-7 minutes (#5), the surface should brown but not burn.
Flip the filets over and cook another 3-4 minutes with the lid on.
You can judge the doneness by looking at the breaks of the flesh of the fish which develop during cooking. (#6) When they are opaque the fish is done.

The parchment covered frying pan method works well. Since no oil was used, it emulates grilling. The pan  remains clean. I think this is a better method than baking to cook fish especially marinaded fish which can burn easily.

Prosciutto-wrapped Haddock 生ハム巻きハドック (コダラ)

Haddock is not fish we usually cook but we had some in our freezer which we received as part of a “white fish sampler” from Vital Choice. Although we finished all the “Chilean sea bass” and almost finished all the “sable fish or black cod”, sole and haddock were left behind. So we decide it is time to try the haddock. I was not familiar with this fish in Japan but the Japanese name is reportedly either “Kodara コダラor montuski-dara 紋付ダラ”.  From our previous experience, haddock is not our all time favorite. If you are going for “cod family”, true cod is much better. Then, my wife found this recipe for “prosciutto-wrapped haddock”. We thought wrapping in prosciutto may give the haddock an additional dimension and make it a bit more interesting. The original recipe was a “baking pan” affair in which the main and side dish are cooked in a baking pan in the oven. I decided to cook the haddock as well as the vegetables in a frying pan. The haddock was much better this way but still faces stiff competition from Chilean sea bass and sable fish. As a side I cooked green beans, shallot and skinned Campari (or cocktail) tomato in the same frying pan I cooked the fish.

Ingredients:
One filet of haddock, thawed and cut into two small servings, skin removed (I removed the skin but skin is very delicate and probably not need be removed).
Prosciutto, enough to wrap the two filets (2-3 slices)
Black pepper
Olive oil and butter

For the side
10 green beans, blanched
1 shallot, sliced 
2 Campari tomatoes, skinned
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Season the haddock with pepper (but not salt since prosciutto has enough salty flavor), wrap the filets with the slices of prosciutto 
In a 10 inch non-stick frying pan, add the olive oil on medium flame. When the oil is hot add the shallot and sauté until lightly caramelized, add the green beans and tomato and cook for another minute, season with salt and pepper
Push the vegetables to the side to make space in the center of the pan. Add the olive oil and butter and place the prosciutto wrapped filets
Cook one side for 1-2 minutes, turn it over and cook another minutes or until done.
Serve it with the side of the vegetables and wedges of lemon.

This is not bad. It really “kicked-it-up-a-notch”. But if we have a choice we would choose other fish. We may try this with true cod or halibut.

Black Cod Marinated in Saikyo miso 銀鱈の西京(味噌)焼き

We have a quite a stash of frozen food including fish. This evening, we raided the stash and had black cod a.k.a. sable fish or “gindara 銀鱈”. I made “nitsuke 煮付け” or simmered in broth, and “miso-yaki” 味噌焼き or grilled miso-marinated. This is a variation of grilled miso marinated but I used “Saikyo-miso” 西京味噌, which is a Kyoto sweet white miso, so I can call this “Saikyo-yaki” 銀鱈の西京焼き. Although the miso itself is sweet (and salty), traditionally, more sugar and mirin (both are sweet) are added to the marinade. The amount of sugar in the marinade makes grilling a bit tricky since it is very easy to burn. I managed this by placing the fish on a piece of parchment paper in a dry frying pan. This worked well by preventing the fish from sticking to the pan and burning due to the high sugar content. I removed a thin wedge from the center of the filet since the small bones concentrated there are difficult to remove. It does not look pretty but worked well since cooking on skin side, it became flat so that the fish cooked evenly. I added a side of green beans sautéd in butter.

Since my wife made corn broth, we used it to make corn rice as another side. I also served “asazuke” 浅漬け salted vegetables (daikon, nappa cabbage, carrot and cucumber).

Ingredients: (two small servings)
1 filet of black cod (sable fish) or “gindara” 銀鱈 divided into two portions (for us small eaters)

for marinade
3 tbs Saikyo miso 西京味噌 (kyoto sweet miso) 
1 tsp sugar
2 tps mirin 
1-2 tbs sake (adjust the amount so that the miso mixture is easily spreadable but not runny)

Directions:
On a piece of plastic wrap large enough to wrap both filets, spread half the marinade in the center in the size of two filets.
Place the filets on the marinade and spread the remaining marinade on the surface of the filets and wrap with the plastic wrap.
Place on a plate and let it marinade overnight in the refrigerator.
Remove as much of the marinade as possible using a silicon spatula.
On the bottom of the stainless steel frying pan on low flame, place the parchment paper
Place the filets skin side down on top of the parchment paper and cook for 4-5 minutes
Flip it over and cook another 4-5 minutes or until done.

The is one of our favorite fish (Chilean sea bass, salmon belong in this group). The corn rice had a very nice corn flavor without any corn kernels in the rice and went well with the fish. The green beans were unusually high quality—very sweet and rounded out a really good meal. 

Miso-marinated Sable Fish 銀鱈の味噌焼き

This is the second dish I made using the sable fish (black cod) or gindara 銀鱈 we got from Vital choice. The last time, I made “Nitsuke” 煮付け, simmered in soy sauce-based broth.  So this time, I made “miso-yaki 味噌焼き. I marinated the fish in a miso and mirin mixture before cooking. Unlike Japanese households where full-size ovens are rare but almost all kitchen stoves have a special fish grill*, we do not have one. Using the broiling element on the regular oven or toaster oven is feasible but it tends to make smoke and the splatters from the fish as it cooks making the inside of the oven dirty. So I decided to try using non-stick aluminum foil on a dry frying pan. This way I would not need to use any oil to prevent the fish from sticking to the pan and I thought this would best emulate grilling, which sort of worked.

*Japanese “gas stove” is called “Gasu-konro” ガスコンロ. “Konro” appears to have originated from a Chinese word 火炉. Japanese gasu-konro almost always have a grilling unit which is optimized for grilling fish with minimal smoke and grills both sides of the fish at once.

I served the fish with a Japanese “dashi-maki” だし巻き omelet and stir fried asparagus and shiitake mushroom seasoned with the same marinate I used for the fish. We also had freshly cooked rice. This fish is amazing. So soft, moist, flakey with a lot of oil. The skin did not get crispy like salmon but was quite good.

Ingredients:

2 filets of “gin-dara” sable fish, skin on, thawed

White miso and mirin mixture (about 1:1 ratio) for the marinade

Directions:

Smear the marinade on a sheet of plastic wrap, place the fish in the center the skin side up, smear the marinade on the skin side and wrap (#1), refrigerate for several hours

Unwrap and remove the marinade (either scrape off using a silicon spatula or wash and pat dry with paper towel) (#2)

Place a sheet of non-stick aluminum foil on a stainless steel frying pan on medium low flame and place the fish skin side down (#3) without added oil or liquid

Put on the lid and cook for 5 minutes or until the fish is 80% done (the meat side becomes opaque) (#3)

Flip it over and cook the meat side for 1 minute (#4)

I flipped it over again in an attempt make the skin crispy (#5) but, in retrospect, this is not needed.

Meanwhile, in a separate frying pan, I sautéed the finely chopped shallot, asparagus and shiitake mushroom in olive oil and seasoned with the above miso marinade (#6)

We think that sable fish (gin-dara 銀鱈) and Chilean sea bass or Patagonian tooth fish (gin-mutsu 銀むつ) are two of the best fish especially in the category of  “white meat fish”. Sable fish “nitsuke 煮付け” and “miso-yaki” are both excellent but nitsuke may have a slight edge especially when enjoyng with white rice since the simmering liquid is perfect to season the rice.

Simmered Sable Fish 銀鱈の煮付け

We got frozen “Chilean sea bass” or “Patagonian toothfish” from Vital Choice. We also found they had “sable fish” or black cod. The sable fish is called “Gindara” 銀鱈 in Japanese and is considered one of the best fish. (Actually we had this fish at Yuzu some years ago as a part of “Omakase” and we really liked it). So, we got the sable fish as well. Chilean sea bass and sable fish have some similarity in that they are both white meat fish and are very moist and succulent. At Yuzu, it was served miso-marinated and grilled with meat-miso sauce. After some thought, I decided to make it simmered in a soy sauce based sauce or “nitsuke” 煮付け. I added “Gobou” burdock root and Tokyo scallion.

Ingredients (for 2 servings):
2 (4oz about 115 grams) filets of “gin-dara” sable fish, thawed
half stalk of Tokyo scallion or “Nihon-negi” 日本ネギ, cut into 4 two inch segments (new item purchased from Weee).
3-4 inch of gobou ごぼう, skin scraped off (using the back of the knife), cut into 4 segments lengthwise (I soaked in acidulated water for 2-3 minutes and precooked for 5 minutes)

Simmering liquid*:
15 gram sugar
30 ml soy sauce
30 ml mirin
60ml sake
60ml water

*Many Japanese recipes talk about the “golden ratio” of “nitsuke” seasonings. There appears to be some variations. I used the ratio of 1:2:2:4 sugar:soy sauce:mirin:sake and added water in the same amount as the sake. I thought this ratio was too sweet to our taste, however, and I may reduce the sugar by half (ie 7 grams as in the simmering liquid ingredients listed above).

Directions:
Mix all ingredients of the simmering liquid in a pan and simmer to dissolve the sugar and evaporate the alcohol from the sake and mirin.
In a frying pan, just large enough to fit the fish and vegetables, add the simmering liquid. When it starts simmering add, the fish (skin side up) and the vegetables. Put on the lid and simmer for 6-7 minutes.

Remove the lid, increase the flame and baste the fish with the simmering liquid until the liquid is reduced in half.
Serve the fish with some simmering liquid and a side of white rice.

This fish is really great. The simmering liquid is perfect for plain white rice. Unfortunately, the gobou was a bit too fibrous.

Seared Scallops on Cauliflower Puree 焦がし帆立とカリフラワーピュレー

We like cauliflower puree. Now I changed how I make it and the process is easier but the results are the same (I added the directions below).  We used the puree for quite a few dishes. Recently, we revisited one of our favorite fish dishes; Chilean sea bass (Patagonian tooth fish). We really like this fish over a bed of Cauliflower puree. Recently we tried a similar combination using seared diver scallops which we got from Great-Alaska-Seafood. I made an impromptu pan sauce which went well.

For seared scallops
Ingredients (for two small servings)
4 diver scallops, thawed if frozen, patted dry and seasoned with salt and pepper
1tsp peanut or other vegetable oil
Pan sauce:
2tbs Japanese sake for deglazing
1tbs lemon juice
1 tsp x4 concentrated Japanese noodle sauce
1 tbs of cold butter

Directions:
Add the vegetable oil with high smoking point to a stainless steel or iron frying pan on medium high flame. Heat the pan until the oil just starts smoking
Add the scallops and brown one side for 1-2 minutes and flip-over . Brown the other side for another 1 minute or until the scallops are just cooked in the center (expect some smoke).
After removing the scallops, add the sake and deglaze the pan. Reduce the liquid to half. Add the noodle sauce and the lemon juice. Reduce briefly and finish with pats of butter.
Place the scallops on the bed of warm cauliflower puree and pour the pan sauce over the scallops.

For cauliflower puree
Ingredients (makes at least 4 to 6 servings):
One head of Cauliflower, washed and florets separated
1 to 3/4 cup 4% milk, warm (I microwave but be careful of over boiling)
Several thin pats (2-3 tbs) of cold butter
1/2 tsp salt or to taste

Directions:
Steam the florets for 7-10 minutes or until very soft.
Meanwhile warm the milk (I microwave but be careful of over-boiling)
In a cylindrical container for a immersion blender, add the cauliflower and half of  the warm milk.
Press down the immersion blender at a medium speed, up and down several time.
Depending on the consistency add more milk and blend in high-speed until silky smooth (may take some time to attain the smooth puree).
Add the butter and salt and further blend
Taste and adjust the salt

We really like this combination. The pan sauce also worked well. If this is a main dish, I would use 4 scallops per serving and add side vegetables.

Chilean Sea bass チリアン・シーバス

 We eat lots of fish. When we lived in California many years ago, we really liked  “Chilean sea bass” which is buttery moist yet flakey and very difficult to overcook and make dry. Then we learned the real name of this fish is ‘Patagonian toothfish” and, at that time, that the fish was frequently illegally poached. So we stopped buying it and forgot about it for a long time. Then, my wife found Chilean sea bass available at Vital Choice which came from MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) -certified sustainable fishery. We remembered how wonderful it was and ordered it, although  it was a bit on the expensive side.

Digression alert: “Chilean sea bass” is said to be the most popular in US, and EU as well as in Japan. (Although when I was in Japan I did not know about this fish.) In Japan, this imported fish is reportedly called “mero” メロ or “ginmutsu” ギンムツ.

The fish was as wonderful as we remembered. Actually the first time I cooked this fish, I did not take a picture. So, I made the same dish a second time in an identical fashion. This was simply sautéed in butter with a caper lemon butter sauce. The sides were  cauliflower purée and haricot vert (pre-blanched) and Campari tomato (skinned) sautéed in butter. Everything went well together but the combination of cauliflower puree and Chilean sea bass was sublime.

Ingredients (2 servings):
2 4oz frozen Chilean sea bass, thawed, seasoned with salt and pepper

For Caper lemon butter sauce
2 tsp pickled capers (from a jar)
1 tbs unsalted butter
1 tsp lemon juice (half lemon)

Directions:
Cook the filets in melted butter on medium flame, turn once after 5 minutes and cook another 5 minutes (I put on the lid since one of the filets was rather thick)
Once cooked, set aside on a plate
In the same pan add the butter. capers and lemon juice and quickly warm them up then pour over the filets

We also served small slices of mini-baguette I baked to soak up the sauce. The fish is buttery, flakey but moist. Somehow it went so well with the cauliflower puree. The green beans can be “a hit” (nicely crunchy after few minutes of steaming) or “a miss” (fibrous skin no matter how you cook) but this one was definitely “a hit”.

Yuzu restaurant Omakase 日本料理店柚子おまかせ

We had some business to attend to in downtown Bethesda and since the timing was perfect, we had a chance to go back to the Japanese restaurant "Yuzu" 柚子 after almost 2 years. On our last visit,  it was still in its “soft-opening”. Again we went for "Omakase" お任せ ($80, the smallest one offered since we tend to get full very quickly). When we sat down and greeted Chef "Yoshi Ota", he remembered us despite our 2 year absence and mentioned the post we wrote about our experience at the restaurant 2 years ago. We were honored.

The sake menu has improved but is not extensive. Chef Yoshi again lamented the fact that he had to go through the Montgomery county liquor board to purchase sake which makes it difficult to have an extensive list. We choose the tried-and-true Suigei junmai 酔鯨純米. He served the sake in a stem-less white wine glass so that we could swirl and enjoy the aroma. Suigei has a pleasant non-yeasty nose with slight green apple taste. On this occasion, this sake tasted a bit sweeter than I remembered. Towards the end, we (I, in particular) wanted a bit more sake to complement the last dishes and had “Kikusui genshu” 菊水原酒 which came in a 200ml “cup”. We had this first at “Sakamai” 酒舞, New York some years ago in a “Genshu” tasting. This time, it seemed to have an almost a turpentine flavor.

The starter was "nuta" ぬた of tuna, avocado and cream cheese wrapped in nori. Sweet, nutty and sour "nuta" sauce (miso paste, vinegar and sugar) was a good contrast of flavor and texture to the tuna, avocado (nicely ripened) and cream cheese.



Next came a very nice refreshing plate of scallop carpaccio. Thin slices of raw scallop were placed on a bed of wakame seaweed 若芽, They were accompanied by almost jewel-like colorful mini-tomatoes (with the skin removed of course), thinly sliced cucumber and red radish. A yuzu (Japanese citrus) dressing completed the dish. The combination of gentle sweetness of the scallops with the refreshing tang of the tomatoes and yuzu dressing was very balanced; a beautiful and tasty dish. The delicate interplay of tastes and texture set the tone for the rest of the dishes that followed.



This is another raw fish dish of “hirame” (sole or flat fish) and salmon. The hirame tasted cured with a nice texture. I thought it was kelp cured but Chef said it was salt cured. It was served with a garnish of fried onion bits, finely chopped green scallion, and pine nuts. The dressing was white truffle oil and soy sauce (I am sure this is “sashimi” soy sauce). Each morsel was a progression of taste and textures that was sublime. First the taste and texture of the fish, followed by the crunch and mild burst of flavor from the fried onion bits, then another crunch and the flavor of pine nuts. All packed on one small slice of fish and suffused with the flavor of the truffle.



When I saw Chef Yoshi preparing the next dish, I thought  this was an eggplant dengaku 茄子の味噌田楽 but, to my surprise, this was a miso marinated piece of “Gindara” 銀鱈 (sable fish or black cod), grilled with miso and meat sauce 肉みそ on the top. Gindara has a very moist nice flavor and texture similar to Chilean sea bass. The miso sauce had a nice nutty and salty taste.  The combination of the succulent tender fish with the miso based meat topping made this a remarkably comforting dish. The size of the portion was quite generous allowing us to almost wallow contentedly in the pleasure of each bite. This was a dish to savor. Chef Yoshi mentioned, it would have been “perfect” with a bowl of white rice but it went very well with cold sake we were having.



Next came ”Amadai tatsuta age アマダイの竜田揚げ” or deep fried marinated tile fish which was served with ponzu sauce with graded daikon and red pepper flakes.



We immediately started digging in. Chef Yoshi thought this dish was not particularly photogenic and added several fried green beans. By then, only two pieces remained.



Next, we proceeded to the sushi course. Chef Yoshi first prepared a real wasabi rhizome 山葵大根 (grated on a traditional shark skin grater). I did not take pictures of all the sushi (I got too busy eating). Chef Yoshi did a great job with the “sushi” progression starting with hirame “engawa” ヒラメの縁側 (#1), meat of dorsal fin, which happens to be my ultimate favorite. I love the firmness of this part of hirame. This was followed by botan ebi shrimp 牡丹エビ which was sweet with a nice “nettori” ねっとり texture (hard to translate to English) . Then we progressed to oiler red meat fish including salmon (#3), fatty tuna (straight) which was immediately followed by aburi tuna 鮪の炙り (#4). The same tuna tasted quite different and showed nice contrast. Although Chef Yoshi commented that the quality of Maine uni he had was not of the quality of California uni, the gunkan 軍艦 of salmon roe and sea urchin was great (#5). This combination is my wife’s absolute favorite. As in any good sushi course, the second to the last dish was “anago” 穴子 sea eel with “Tsume” ツメ sauce (#6).



Almost like desert, the last one was a Japanese sweet omelet which was still warm. Perfect last item.



At this point, we were presented with a desert menu but we were really full and declined. The meal was more than complete without it. The sweet omelet was in effect a desert enough for us. We really enjoyed this omakase dinner. Yuzu has been open for 2 years and seems to have hit its stride with things falling nicely into place. We were struck by the subtle complexity of texture and taste built seamlessly into each dish reflecting the unique artistry of the chef. The evening was not particularly busy and we got all the attention of Chef Yoshi—which we selfishly enjoyed immensely .

Sunset at the restaurant on the beach

We were recently on an island in the Caribbean which has achieved notoriety for the notable disappearance of several young ladies. We are pleased to say that we returned after one week of sun, surf, warm weather and cobalt blue water. It was almost like a real life "ground hog day" experience. Every day much the same as the previous day--same weather, same cobalt blue sea, same fellow in white shorts and tennies greeting us to place our same 4 allotted towels under our allotted palapas (grass huts that provide shade). Having said that, there is no doubt that the beaches are spectacular. 

We had dinner at a restaurant that was literally on the beach. The restaurant specialized in fish--fresh fish to be exact (what other kind would a restaurant advertise?) During the day it is a beach much like any other on the island; with palapas and sun bathers lounging under them. In the evening the lounge chairs are removed and the dining tables and chairs are brought out.  As a matter of fact as we were being seated at our ocean side table another waiter was surreptitiously removing the towels and swimming paraphernalia of a guest who had left them behind unaware of the transformation that occurred to the beach at sunset. There is little that can describe the freedom of sitting at a table with your bare feet planted in cool fine white sand watching the sun sink into the ocean in a display of pastel pinks and blues. The dinner did not disappoint. The appetizer of shrimp kabob on lemon grass  was flavorful and the shrimp were impeccably fresh and succulent. One dish was local grouper, the other was chilean sea bass. The grouper was the better of the two dishes. Chilean sea bass?? We don't entirely understand the dearth of local fish available on Caribbean islands where fish are literally swimming with the guests just off the beach. But local markets or restaurants do not appear to have any local fish to sell--somehow salmon and tuna do not strike us as local fish.  Someone told us that if we went to a nearby dock in the late afternoon when the fishing boats came in we could buy fish right off the boat. We went to the dock but there were no boats, no fishermen, no fish. Joke on us? We noticed this absence of fish as pervasive to almost all Caribbean islands we have visited (an N of 4). We speculate that fishing may not pay as well as working in the tourism industry, to which we are contributors. In any case, the fish at this restaurant was good and with our bare feet firmly planted in sand not even Anthony Bourdain could not say food served under these conditions "sucks". Aaaah, the joy of a vacation on a tropical island!

Baked Miso marinated Chilean Sea bass チリアンシーバスの味噌焼き

Chilean sea bass is a wonderful fish to eat. This is one of those rare fish you can not over cook even if you tried. The name was totally made up for marketing purposes and it is more appropriately called "Patagonian tooth fish", (you can see why they changed the name). In the past, this fish was reasonably priced, readily available and served in many restaurants but it has been over fished. In addition, many were caught illegally or "poached". This fish is on the list of "un-sustainable" fish along with tuna. I found this in our near-by gourmet market. The fish monger assured me that this particular fish was legally caught. Since we have not seen or eaten this fish for a long time I decided to try it.  I was expendissimo!

This fish can be cooked simply seasoned with salt and pepper but I marinated it in a sweet miso marinade before baking.

I got just over 1lb of Chilean sea bass for two servings. Since I did not have much Saikyo miso 西京味噌 left, I used white miso with mirin and sugar. Again, the exact proportion is a bit iffy and I have to guesstimate; white miso (3 tbs), sugar (1tbs), yuzu juice (from the bottle, 1 tsp) and mirin (2 tbs or until right consistency is reached). I marinated the fish in a Ziploc bag in the refrigerator for several hours. I removed the miso marinade by rubbing the surface with my hand so that a small amount of the marinade remains on the surface. I baked it in a 350F convection oven for 30 minutes on a metal rack set on the top of the deep baking pan so that hot air could circulate underneath the fish.

The fish is very nice--oily with a soft flaky texture and a nice sweet miso flavor. Among the  many other fish which can be over cooked so easily ending up dry, this is an exceptionally good fish. I served it with asparagus tips blanched and dressed with sesame sauce (sesame paste, sugar and soy sauce).

Grilled marinated salmon 鮭の祐庵やき

Grilled marinated fish dishes are fairly common in Japanese cooking. Mark's book has Sweet miso marinated fish 魚の西京漬け (p61). Many of the fish popular in Japan are not readily available in the U.S. Among the rather limited varieties of fresh fish available in our neighborhood grocery stores, we like salmon.  It is consistently available and reasonably fresh. We often just salt it and grill or sauté (finish in the oven). We particularly like a crispy skin and I make sure that the skin gets crispy. You could use cod, sword fish, Chilean sea bass or other similar types of fish instead.

This time, I used a liquid marinade called "Yuuan-ji" 祐庵地 which is a classic Japanese marinade for grilling. There are some variations but we do not like an overly sweet taste, so I use about equal amounts of mirin, sake and twice the amount of soy sauce (1:1:2) (the classic recipe may call for more mirin).  Combine the ingredients in a small pan and let it come to a boil to remove the alcohol and to amalgamate the tastes. Let it cool and then refrigerate. Marinate salmon for 20-30 minutes (if you marinate too long, you tend to lose the actual taste of the fish and everything starts to taste like the marinade). Grill until the skin is crispy and the meat is cooked through.

I made pencil asparagus as an accompaniment. Sauté minced onion, garlic, sliced Shiitake mushroom and pencil asparagus in small amount of melted butter. Add a small amount of the marinade and let it cook down until almost all liquid is gone about 2-3 minutes. The asparagus should still be a bit crispy.