Japanese Grilled Saury(or mackarel)

This original recipe(which I wrote in Japanese) is not mackarel but pacific saury, but I assume it’s not as popular fish as here so decided to change it to mackarel.

If you can find a cheaper, less vigorous saury on sale, I recommend eating it kabayaki (broiled).

By the way, there was a “ranking of everyone’s favorite school lunch” at elementary and junior high schools, wasn’t there?(maybe it’s Japanese school thing) If so, what was it?

Was it curry? Fried chicken, fruit punch, and surprisingly, wakame rice are also popular.

At my alma mater, the No. 1 ranking was always saury kabayaki (broiled saury LOL!).

It was so shockingly delicious that it turned my common sense upside down, as I was not fond of fish until I was 12 years old. Whenever there were people on vacation, it was a very popular menu item that attracted many people who didn’t participate in the “refill rock-paper-scissors” game.

Even now, as an adult, I cannot forget that taste and enjoy the nostalgic flavor every once in a while.

By the way, the mitsuba in the photo is dried. They are quite convenient! The yuzu peel is also convenient. LOL!

Japanese Grilled Saury(or Mackarel)

Recipe by AKO's CookBook

Servings

1

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

20

minutes

Ingredients

• 1 saury, cut into 3 pieces

• Half an onion

• 2 tablespoons flour

• ★2 tablespoons soy sauce

• ★2 tablespoons sugar

• ★30 ml cooking sake

• White sesame seeds to taste

• Mitsuba (mitsuba leaves), to taste

Directions

• Cut the saury into bite-size pieces, removing the bones if you are concerned about them. Coat both sides of the cut saury with flour. (It is easier to put the saury in a plastic bag, sprinkle the flour over the saury, and twist the mouth to make it look like a balloon and shake it. (You can also dispose of the excess flour as it is.)
• Combine ★ ingredients ahead of time.
• Heat oil in a frying pan (a little more than usual) and cook saury over high heat, starting from the skin side. Make sure both sides are crispy.
• Reduce the heat to medium, pour in the seasoning mixture, cover and cook for about 5 minutes. When the sauce has caramelized and coats the saury, it is done. Finally, sprinkle with white sesame seeds.