Mackerel hand-shaped sushi 鯖の棒鮨

Shime-saba しめ鯖 is vinegar pickled mackerel and a very popular item in Japan. The best is fresh local “branded” mackerel (such as “Seki-saba” 関鯖) prepared in-house but, nowadays, the risk of Anisakis is rising possibly due to warming of the sea water. (The fresher the mackerel the higher the Anisakis’ risk. In addition, curing the fish in salt and vinegar does not kill the Anisakis but freezing does). We can easily get shime-saba in the U.S. packaged and frozen. Although there are so many varieties of  mackerel, most frozen packages coming from Japan to the U.S. use mackerel from Norway as I understand it. I have posted molded sushi made of shime saba which is called “baterra” バッテラ or “oshizushi” 押し寿司. This type of sushi is famous in the Kansai region 関西. In that post, I said that the classic preparation requires a thinly shaven sheet of kelp called “Shiroita konbu” 白板昆布 placed on top of the fillet of fish. Such a preparation is next to impossible to get here in US. Some days ago, however, I found a package of frozen mackerel with a sheet of kelp already on it in Tako Grill’s frozen case and got it. This must be a new product which became available recently since I saw the identical item at the Japanese grocery store as well as at Catalina Offshore products. 

Instead of using a mold to shape the sushi, I made it freehand which is called “Bou-zushi” 棒鮨 (“bou” means a rod or stick). The picture below shows the “saba-no-bouzushi” 鯖の棒鮨 I served as the ending shime dish one evening. As you can see, the surface of the fish is covered with a layer of thinly shaven kelp.

Ingredients:
One package of frozen vinegar cured mackerel as described above, thawed, tail portion cut and tucked in to make an even width.
Sushi rice (my wife made fresh rice for this).


Directions:
Instead of using oshizushi mold, I formed a log of the sushi rice about the same length and width as the mackerel by hand (you need to wet your hand).
Using a silicon sushi rolling mat (relatively recent acquisition, you could use a regular bamboo mat covered with plastic wrap or wet tea towel), place the mackerel skin or kelp side down.
Place the log of the rice onto the mackerel.
Press the rice lightly against the mackerel and roll the silicon mat (top image in the picture below)
Tighten the mat and also press on both sides of the rice to make the rice and the mackerel form a slightly flattened cylinder and unroll (bottom image in the picture below).

Wet the knife and slice about half inch thick (below).

In this cut surface, you could see bottom rice layer and top mackerel layer and surface kelp layer.

This was a very satisfying dish. The layer of mackerel was very thick, but very tender and well seasoned. My wife really like this and said the ratio of sushi rice to fish was perfect. With the addition of kelp layer, it is authentic and tastes better (I think). Since I did not have to find and soak the mold ahead of time, this method was a bit easier to make.

Spanish mackerel stewed in miso さばの味噌煮

Appropriate ingredients are the most important factor in making new and interesting dishes. At the newly opened gourmet grocery store, today's catch (whole fish selection) included some large Spanish mackerel and sardines. Although I was tempted to get the sardines or "iwashi" イワシ because I had some recipes I wanted to try, they looked like they had been in a bar fight the night before, and were much the worse for wear. So we got the Spanish mackerel. Again, it is difficult to compare the type of mackerel available in Japan vs. the ones available here.  The Spanish Mackerel we got was a bit over 4 lbs and was much larger than Japanese mackerel or まさば. The type of mackerel we call "Boston mackerel" here appears to be closer to Japanese mackerel. Size aside, these mackerels have characteristics similar to oily blue fish; nice firm reddish flesh and shiny silver blue-gray skin. They also have a rather strong taste and spoil very quickly. The classic Japanese preparation is to use miso when cooking mackerel.

Preparing mackerel: I had our Spanish mackerel filleted. I had to remove the small pin bones in the center line of the head portion of the fillet using a Japanese fish bone puller (I have one that I got from Global or you could use a needle nose pliers). Since the fish we got was rather large, I used one fillet for this miso stewed dish and the other for a miso grilled dish. I cut the fillet into half lengthwise and then cut crosswise into 2 inch wide pieces. I made shallow scores in the skin surface as well.

Simmering liquid: I combined dashi (200ml), mirin (4 tbs), sake (4 tbs), red miso (3 tbs) and sugar (2 tbs) in a frying pan. I also added ginger root (4 thin slices). After coming to the boil, I turned the heat down tasted it. I thought it was too strong and added more water and sake but, in retrospect, I should have left it alone.

I placed the prepared mackerel in the pan skin side up and also added segments of scallion all around. After coming back to boil, I turned the heat down to simmer, I put an otoshi-buta and a regular lid (askew) and simmered it for 15-20 minutes (see image below).

Since the miso mixture was still a bit runny, after I removed the fish, I reduced it a bit to make a thicker consistency.

To serve, I garnished it with thin threads of ginger ("hari-shouga" 針ショウガ) and scallion cut thinly along the long axis called "shiraga-negi" しらが葱 or white hair scallion. Since I do not have naganegi 長ネギ or Tokyo scallion, this was the best I could manage.

This is a classic and very comforting dish--perfect as an accompaniment for sake. Miso and mackerel are indeed a winning combination.

Spanish Mackerel dishes, two kinds サバの味噌煮と竜田揚げ

We bought a whole Spanish mackerel from our nearby gourmet grocery store. Again, the exact Japanese name for Spanish Mackerel is unclear but  I will just call it "saba" 鯖 さば. Certainly it looks and taste like one. I asked the fishmonger to just gut the fish. I made miso-ni 味噌煮 simmered in miso sauce (left) and tatsuta-fry 竜田揚げ.

I made the miso simmered mackerel in the morning and reheated it just before serving. Then I fried up the marinated tatsuta mackerel. This one was well seasoned and did not require any sauce just a bit of lemon juice.

I garnished the miso simmered mackerel with thin julienne of ginger or "hari shouga" 針生姜 and thinly sliced scallion.

Preparation of the fish:

This was a rather large mackerel. I filleted it "sanmai-ni-orosu" or sliced it into three layers (two layers of fillets and one layer of backbone and head). I removed the belly portion and also removed the meat under the fins since there are many small bones under the fins. Using a Japanese bone tweezer, I removed any small bones which remained.

I cut the pieces into rectangles and scored the skin so it wouldn't break during cooking. I divided the pieces into two groups. I simmered one group in miso sauce and the other I fried into tatsuta.

1. Mackerel braised in miso sauce サバの味噌煮

Ingredients:

Mackerel, one fillet, cut into rectangles with the skin shallowly scored. 

300 ml water

100 ml sake

5tbs miso

3tbs sugar

4 slices of ginger

Directions:

I placed the water and sake with the ginger slices in a frying pan and brought it to a boil. I placed the mackerel in with skin side up. I removed some liquid and used it to dissolve a mixture of miso and sugar. Once dissolved I added it back to the pan (#1) and turned down the flame to simmer. I placed the otoshibuta (my usual silicone lid) on top (#2).

I simmered it until the sauce became thick and clung to the fish (for about 45 minutes to 1 hour) (#3).

2. Mackrel tatsuta fry 鯖の竜田揚げ

Ingredients:

Mackerel, one fillet, cut into rectangles.

Soy sauce and mirin (1:1 ratio)

1 tsp grated ginger

Potato starch for dredging

Oil for deep frying

Directions:

In a Ziploc bag, I marinated the mackerel for several hours in the refrigerator. 

I blotted the excess marinade using paper towels and dredged the pieces in the potato starch (#4).

I deep fried it in 350F oil for a few minutes turning once (#6).

Both dishes were quite good but we liked the miso flavored one best. Although these two dishes are good drinking snacks, we had them with rice. Especially the miso-ni was best on the rice (OTR). We were pleasantly surprised that the Spanish mackerel we got was very fresh and the resulting dishes were great.

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.

Mackerel ball soup with myoga flowers 鯖のつみれ汁と茗荷の花

We used to get whole Spanish mackerel 鯖 or サワラ at Whole Foods but recently it has not been available.  We discovered we could get mackerel as well as many other asian food items from a local Korean market called “HMart”.  Although their main focus is Korean food, they also carry Japanese food items that are not available elsewhere. In this time of Covid, we are using a delivery service (Instacart) to "shop" HMart and it has opened new horizons for us. 

One weekend, we got 2 lbs. of Spanish mackerel which consisted of one large and one small mackerel. As usual, I prepared the fish "san mai-in-orosu” 三枚におろす meaning into three layers i.e. two filets and the remaining bone. I removed the small pin bones from the filets.  I made most of the larger mackerel filets into miso-simmered mackerel 鯖の味噌煮. With the filets of the smaller mackerel, I made a salted and grilled mackerel dish 鯖の塩焼き(subject of a future post). 

The third and final part of the preparation involved the remaining bone. I removed the meat clinging to the bones by scraping it off using a small spoon. (This is a classic Japanese technique used mostly for tuna to make sure no meat of the fish is left behind). I made the scrapings into fish balls for our usual fish ball soup or 鯖のツミレ汁 which I served as lunch one day. I rounded out the soup by adding Japanese udon noodles (we happened to have noodles already cooked), silken tofu I got from Tako Grill (beside take-out, tako grill now sells some Japanese groceries), shiitake mushrooms and topped it with myoga flowers we just harvested and freeze dried “mitsu-ba” ミツバwhich was also from Tako grill.

Unfortunately, you cannot see the fish balls because they sank to the bottom.

Although the freeze dried mitsuba did not have much flavor, the myoga flowers did. They had the subtle bitter flavor characteristic of myoga. The only way it is possible to eat myoga flowers is getting them from myoga grown in your own backyard. The flowers are extremely perishable so once the myoga blooms, it immediately loses its commercial value. It has been some time since we have been able to experience the luxury and subtle taste of myoga flowers. 

“Canned mackerel and hanpen” Satsuma-age like fish cake 鯖缶とはんぺんの薩摩揚げ

Canned mackerel or “saba-kan” 鯖缶 is a very popular canned fish item in Japan and is readily available in the U.S. Upon inspection, of the canned mackerel in our pantry, I realized that the “Best used by” date had just passed on one of the cans. (I thought canned food lasted forever but that is apparently not the case). I needed to use this can fast and I then saw a perfect  recipe of fried fishcake on the Japanese website I follow using canned mackerel and “Hanpen” fishcake はんぺん.  This type of fishcake is called “Satsuma-age” さつま揚げ, which is a very common dish served grilled in Izakaya. Although I attempted to make Satusma-age from scratch, it was not quite authentic due to the lack of appropriate kinds of fish. The current version is interesting because instead of using ground fish meat “surimi” すり身 which is the authentic way to make Satuma-age this recipe used a mixture of canned mackerel and hanpen.  I served this with the usual grated ginger and soy sauce. It does not have the texture of authentic Sastuma-age but this was good; crispy outside and tender inside with the firmer texture of edamame and carrot. It all worked. The inclusion of ginger and deep frying toned down the otherwise strong flavor of the mackerel. This is a perfect dish with sake.

Ingredients:
One can of boiled (Mizu-ni 水煮) mackerel (190 grams with the liquid, about 150 grams fish meat), drained and crumbled
2 hanpen steamed fish cakes, frozen, thawed (240 grams), cut into small pieces.
1 tbs potato starch
1 tsp sugar
30 grams julienned carrot(1/3 of medium carrot), boiled or microwaved for 30 seconds
60 grams cooked and shelled edamame
1/2 tsp grated ginger

Peanut oil for shallow frying

Directions:
Mix all the ingredients until completely incorporated (The original recipe placed everything in a plastic bag and hand massaged it to make the dough, I did not have the patience to do that so I used an immersion blender, #1).
Mix in the edamame and carrot and make flat ovals (I made 8) (#2)
Add the oil to the frying pan to the depth of 5mm and heat to around 350F and shallow fry for 3 minutes (#3)
Turn over and fry the other side for 3 minutes (#4)
Drain and serve immediately (or once refrigerated, toaster-oven to warm).

This is not Satsuma-age but it is a nice fishcake and we really like it. Since the ingredients (hanpen and canned mackerel) are easy to get, this is a good and easy dish to make.

Mackerel meatball soup 鯖のつみれ汁

My wife really likes mackerel simmered in miso sauce or "Saba-no-misoni" 鯖の味噌煮. So,  every time we see fresh whole Spanish mackerel for sale at the near-by Whole Foods store, we get it to make this dish. This time we got two good sized mackerels. I had them gutted with heads off. I filleted them myself. If I do this myself, I can save more fish meat and I can scrape any remaining meat from the bone using a spoon. I also removed the meat from the tip of the tails since it is too narrow to make into "misoni". Using these scraps, I made fish meatball soup or "saba-no-tsumire-jiru" 鯖のつみれ汁. This was a lunch on one weekend. In addition to the fish meatball soup (lower left), I served blanched rapini with scrambled eggs (upper left), mackerel simmered in miso sauce with broccoli (upper right), and butter and soy sauce rice (lower right).

I made clear soup with mackerel meatballs, silken tofu and sliced scallion and added (frozen) yuzu zests just before serving.

Ingredients: (the amount is for two servings from the recipe I saw on line as a reference. The amount of mackerel I used was less than indicated in the recipe and, as usual, I did not precisely measure quantities. I also made minor modification.)
For the meatballs:
Mackerel, skimmed from backbone or filet with skin removed (160 gram or 5.6oz)
Salt, scant pinch
Sake or water 1 tbs
Miso and potato starch, 1/2 tbs each
Sesame oil, 1 tsp
Scallion, 1/2 finely chopped
Ginger root, skin removed and finely chopped, 1/2 tsp

For broth:
Japanese dashi broth, 3 cups (I used my usual "dashi pack" with bonito and kelp).
Light colored soy sauce, 1 tbs
Scallion, 1 stalk, thinly sliced on bias.
Silken tofu 1/4 block, cut into bite-size cubes
Yuzu zest (I used frozen ones)

Directions:
Using a chef's knife, mince the fish meat and mix in all the ingredients for the meatballs.
Mix well (see below). Adjust the liquid (either sake or water, I used sake) to make the consistency (not too firm and no too soft, it has to stay together when cooked in broth but you want it to make soft tender meatball).

Bring the broth to a gentle simmer and using two teaspoons first dipped in the broth to prevent sticking, make small balls (or quenelles) and gently drop it into the broth (below) and let it cook through (a few minutes).

When the meatballs are cooked, season the broth with light colored soy sauce. Taste and if you need more saltiness, either add more soy sauce or add salt if you do not want the broth to become too dark.
Add the tofu and the scallion. When the tofu warms up, serve in a bowl and garnish with the Yuzu zest.

For a starch side, I served a variation of butter and soy sauce rice. Since I only had cold leftover rice, I first melted butter in a non-stick frying pan, added the cold rice and fried it to warm it up. Then I added a small amount of soy sauce to finish. I garnished with nori.

I have posted that the substitute for "Nanohana" 菜の花 in the U.S. is either rapini or broccolini. I like rapini since it has a slight bitterness similar to Nanohana. To complete the spring theme (color-wise) I added the bright yellow of scrambled eggs seasoned with sugar and salt. The rapini was blanched, cooled in cold water, drained and dressed with a mixture of Japanese mustard, sugar and soy sauce or "Karashi-jouyu" 辛子醤油.

Of course, we had to test some of the mackerel in miso. I served it with blanched broccoli for color.

Although I served this with only a small amount of rice, this was quite filling for us. The soup and fish balls were really good with ginger and yuzu flavors coming through but not at all "fishy".

Canned Mackerel, Cabbage and Egg Stir-fry サバ缶とキャベツの卵炒め

We found a few cans of mackerel (Japanese.style cooked in water) which were approaching the BUB (best-used-by date) tucked away in the pantry. We bought these and other canned items during the height of COVID when protein shortages started to materialize. Those times have thankfully passed so I decided I could use the “emergency” mackerel to make a small appetizer. I have made and posted a few dishes made from canned mackerel. This is not particularly original but it worked well. Since I recently got fresh quail eggs, I used them to make miniature fried eggs and topped this dish. As a result, in the picture the mackerel part of the dish, is a bit obscured by the fried quail egg.

The below is the picture of another serving a few days later. I added boiled quail eggs which had been marinated.

This is based on the recipe on line (in Japanese).

Ingredients:
One can of mackerel in brine or “Saba-no-mizuni” 鯖の水煮
3-4 leaves of cabbage, thick vein removed and cut into bite-size square
2 shiitake mushrooms, stem removed and sliced (optional)
1 egg
1 tbs vegetable or olive oil
salt and pepper

Directions:
Make scrambled egg and set asdie
sauté the cabbage for few minutes
Add the mackerel and stir for few more minutes
Plate and top with the scrambled egg
Season with salt and pepper

This is an ok dish to use up the canned mackerel…actually tasted pretty good. It was even better the next day with the marinated quail eggs.

Cold mackerel ball soup 冷製鯖のつみれ汁

We got a whole Spanish mackerel from the near-by Whole Foods and made our usual miso simmered mackerel 鯖の味噌煮. I also made mackerel fish ball soup 鯖のつみれ汁 from the meat scraped off the bone and tail tip portion of the fish. I just cooked the mackerel fish balls in dashi broth but did not season or finish the soup and placed it in the refrigerator. The next day, it was very hot and humid and my wife suggested we have this soup cold. Following her suggestion, I made this cold soup with mackerel balls, silken tofu and udon noodle as a light lunch.

I just seasoned the broth with concentrated noodle sauce from a bottle and garnished with sliced scallion and yuzu zest (frozen).

Ingredients: (this made 7 meat balls).

Scraped meat from one whole Spanish mackerel (scraped off the bone and also the thin tip of the tail portion)

Scallion, half stalk, finely chopped

Miso and potato starch 1 tbs each

Sake 1 tsp

Roasted sesame oil 1/2 tsp

Ginger root, finely chopped 1/2 tsp

Salt, scant pinch

Japanese broth, 300ml (I made this from a dashi pack with bonito and kelp).

Concentrated noodle sauce from the bottle to taste
Silken tofu and udon noodles (both cold, amount arbitrary)

For garnish

Scallion, 1/2, thinly sliced on bias
Yuzu zest

Directions:

Mince and mix the Spanish mackerel meat, scallion, miso, potato starch, sake, sesame oil, ginger root and salt.
Meanwhile heat-up the Japanese dashi broth and keep it simmering
Using two teaspoons, make a quenelle and drop it into the simmering broth
Cook it gently until all the fish balls float (4-5 minutes)
Let it cool to room temperature and place it in the refrigerator overnight.
In a small bowl, add the broth seasoned with the concentrated noodle sauce, add the fish balls, tofu and udon and garnish.

We liked the warm version but this cold one is also very good especially on a hot and humid summer day in August in Washington.

Blue fish simmered in misoブルーフィシュの味噌煮

The other day, we were in the near-by Wholefoods store. We always look to see what kind of whole fresh fish is available. My wife wanted mackerel since she really like mackerel in miso sauce (サバの味噌煮) but they did not have it. Instead, we saw two relatively small blue fish which were the last they had. I am not sure if there is any Japanese name or similar fish in Japan. The meat is soft and has a slightly blueish tinge. It also has a rather strong taste and is considered a fairly "low-class" fish and is often used as bait for larger fish by game fishermen. We have smoked this fish before which made it rather palatable. We thought these characteristics were somewhat similar to mackerel and decided it may be good to cook it in miso sauce.

I garnished it with chopped chives and thin julienne of ginger.

It looks very similar to mackerel as we hoped it would.

It is essentially cooked the same as mackerel.

Ingredients:
Bluefish, two, about 10 inches, gutted and head off (#1)
300 ml water
100 ml sake
5tbs miso
3tbs sugar
4 slices of ginger

Directions:
Scale and cut two fillets removing the center layer of bone (#3). this is called "Sanmai-ni-orosu" 三枚におろす.
Remove the belly portion and any bones especially under the dorsal fin  (#3).
Cut the filet into 3 pieces and score the skin to prevent the skin from breaking while cooking (#4).
Put the sake, water, and ginger in the pan and add the fish with the skin side up when the liquid starts simmering(#5).
Cook for few minutes and mix the miso, sugar and loosen it by adding the simmering liquid and then add the miso mixture (#6).
Covered it with a silicon "otoshibuta" and cook 30-40 minutes.
Remove the lid and reduce the sauce for 5-10 minutes until the miso sauce become think and clingy.

So, we found out, bluefish can be substituted for mackerel for this dish. It tasted almost identical and if you were not told, you could not tell the difference.

Mackerel ceviche しめ鯖のサビーチェ

In our household, once an item goes into the freezer, it tends to "fall off the radar screen" and gets lost. When my wife digs deep into the freezer in search of something, she always finds some very old item. On one such occasion, she pointed out a package of pickled mackerel or "shime-saba" しめ鯖. I knew it was old but I had no idea how old. I defrosted it one weekend and it was not edible. So, on a subsequent weekend, I bought some "fresh" frozen pickled mackerel. I did not take any chances this time and, the next day, I made this dish. I got this idea from a recipe on line.

This is a good dish. Perfect with cold sake.

The addition of vegetables added more volume.

Ingredients:
One package frozen "shime saba" pickled mackerel (#2), Thin skin peeled off and cut into a
bite sized pieces (#3).
1/2 sweet  onion (I used Vidalia), cut into thin slices (#1)
2 skinned Campari tomatoes, cut into thin wedges (#1)
1 Jalapeño pepper, seeded, veined and cut into fine dice (#1)
lime juice (from 1 lime) or lemon juice
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
1-2 tsp olive oil (I used our favorite Spanish olive oil)
1/2 cucumber (I used American mini cucumber), thinly sliced for garnish

Directions:
Just mix it all up (#4) and dress with the lime juice, and olive oil. Season it with salt and black pepper (#4). Let it stand in the refrigerator for 10 minutes.
I garnished with the cucumber

This is better than just eating the mackerel like sashimi with soy sauce, wasabi or ginger. Since the shime-saba had just been bought, it was nice and not overly pickled. This is indeed a very good way to serve shime-saba. This dish is not as challenging to people who are not into sashimi and mackerel in particular.

"Aji" Jack mackerel sashimi 3 ways 鯵の刺身3種類

It is most difficult to find the equivalent English names for fish named in Japanese. For example, the fish called "Aji" 鯵 アジ in Japanese is a member of the Mackerel family but whether the English equivalent name should be "Jack mackerel" or " horse mackerel" is unclear. In any case, I found a package of frozen "Aji" filets  tucked away in our freezer.  I must have bought it at our Japanese grocery store some time ago but I do not remember when. The package was also labeled in English as "Wild jack mackerel" (see #4 in the last composite picture below). Since such fish (or other things for that matter) do not improve spending lengthy time in the freezer, I decided to use it immediately. This package of aji was already prepared; filleted with skin removed. I thought of making a fry 鯵のフライ but this aji was rather small I decided to serve it as sashimi in three ways on one weekend.

From left to right on the bottom row are "namerou" 鯵のなめろう, "goma-mabushi"  鯵のごままぶし, and "sunomono" 酢の物.

"Aji-no-namerou" 鯵のなめろう or "chopped aji seasoned with miso" is a very common way of preparing mackerel. I have posted a similar dish using low-quality tuna.

"Aji-no-gomamabushi" 鯵のごままぶし or "aji covered with ground roasted white sesame" was inspired by the recipe I saw on line.

"aji-no-sunomono" 鯵の酢の物 or "aji and cucumber in vinegar dressing" is also a classic dish. The addition of ginger root is also common to counter the sometimes strong flavor of the fish.

The aji was frozen and vacuum packed (#1). It was filleted with skin removed. I have to assume it was first salted and prepared in the usual manner of "San-mai oroshi" 三枚おろし(three pages preparation consisting of two fillets and a layer containing a backbone).  After I removed the fillets from the package, I washed them in cold filtered water, dried them with a paper towel. I then placed the them between the sheets of paper towel on the cutting board. I sprinkled sushi vinegar so that the paper towels were saturated with the vinegar (became transparent, #2). I let it sit for 10 minutes.  This technique is called "sujime" 酢じめ which is commonly done for blue skinned fish to preserve and reduce any "fishy" smell and taste. The fresher the fish the less amount of "sujime" is needed. This one was not too bad and I only vinegared it for 10 minutes. After that, I removed the center line of the fillets which contained small bones to make 20 small half fillets. I divided these into three portions (I apportioned two extra half fillets to the "namerou" since I knew this dish would be good).

Aji-no-sunomono 鯵の酢の物　

1. I cut the aji filets into small bite sized pieces.
2. I prepared "nihaizu" 二杯酢 by mixing rice vinegar, light colored soy sauce and dashi broth (3:2:2 ratio but the ratio can be modified based on your taste).
3. As an additional item, I made "jabara" 蛇腹 cut cucumber, which was first salted, let to stand for 5 minutes then excess moisture squeezed out.  I dressed it with sushi vinegar (from the bottle) and set it aside until I assembled the dish. (I could have added wakame seaweed but I did not).
4. I also prepared "hari-shouga" 針生姜 as a garnish. By first removing the skin from ginger root, thinly sliced, and then julienned (#5) and soaked in water (#6) to make it less strong. The longer you soak the ginger root and the more frequently you change the water the less potent the ginger becomes. You have to taste and decide when to stop. I strained the ginger using a fine nylon strainer and squeezed out the excess water using a paper towel.
5. I assembled the dish in a small bowl, first putting in the cucumber (excess sushi vinegar squeezed out), then the aji. I poured the "nihaizu" around and topped with "hari-shouga" ginger (picture above).

Aji-no-goma-mabushi 鯵のごままぶし

1. I cut the aji filet into a bite sized pieces and sprinkled enough soy sauce to coat all the surface and let it stand for 5-10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, I dry roasted the white sesame seeds (about 2 tbs) until fragrant and just starting to turn color. I tipped the seeds into a Japanese mortar or suribachi すり鉢 and let it cool a bit.
3. Using a pestle or surikogi すりこぎ, I ground it into coarse powder.
4. I place the marinated aji  in a bowl and coated the all surfaces with the sesame powder and served (picture above).

Aji-no-namerou 鯵のなめろう

1. I coarsely chopped the aji.
2. I finely chopped chives (or scallion), perilla leaves, and miso (amount is arbitrary but you could taste during the preparation and add more) and mixed with the aji while chopping with the knife.
3. For a change, I added a bit of mirin to make the mixture loose and added some sweetness.
4. I did not add ginger since I had ginger in the other dish.
5. I placed decorative perilla leaves on top as garnish and served in a small bowl (picture above).

This was a wonderful combination to have with cold sake. We like the namerou best, followed by one covered with sesame seeds. The sunomono was good but, among the three, it had the least impact. The problem is that we can consume a quite a lot of sake with dishes as good as these three.

Natto with canned mackerel in miso sauce 納豆さば味噌

I saw this recipe using canned mackerel in miso sauce サバの味噌煮 and natto 納豆.  Since I had one can of mackerel in miso sauce and one package of frozen natto, I decided to give it a go.  We had this with cold sake.

Since I made this from my memory of the recipe. When I finally found the recipe again I saw I had modified it a bit.

I garnished this dish with chopped chives.

Ingredients:
Mackerel in miso sauce, one can (#1).
Nattou, 1 package (#2), the original calls for 3 packs but that would have been too much (especially for my wife).
Miso paste, 1 tbs
Sugar, 1/2 tbs
Sake, 2 tbs (this was not in the original recipe).

Directions:
1. Add the mackerel with its sauce to the pan (#3) and add the miso and sugar (#4).
2. Add the sake and stir mashing the fish into small pieces (#5).
3. When the mixture starts to simmer add the nato (#6).
4. Keep stirring until the liquid evaporates and the desired consistency is attained (about 10-15 minutes on low flame).

The original started with dark sesame oil and finely chopped ginger. It also included the addition of Japanese dried red pepper which could have added more complexity to the flavor. While I was cooking the mixture with the kitchen exhaust fan on high, my wife came back in from the deck where she had been sitting and told me it smelled pretty bad out there (apparently all the smell of natto was expelled into the outside air over the deck--sorry neighbors). I served this warm with a garnish of chopped chives. This was ok but the smell of natto was still there albeit faint. My wife suggested it would probably be pretty good served cold which may reduce the smell a bit.