Jane Grigson's Fish Book - Jane Grigson [178]
For that particular system of cooking with salt, turn to p. 367. This recipe uses rather less. A number of fish are suitable for salt-grilling, but the Japanese use it especially for the particular sea bream known to them as tai. They regard tai as a special and superior fish, the lucky fish to be eaten on ceremonial occasions, since it sounds like medetai, meaning happy. ‘This kind of symbolic pun… helps the Japanese in their quest for harmony with nature. To the Japanese, nothing on earth, even a common fish, can exist in isolation; everything must be accorded its rightful place in the universal scheme of things. All aspects of a creature, its soul, its colour and character, even its name, are duly honoured.’1 I like that idea.
Serves 6
3 sea bream each weighing approx. 500 g (1 lb) scaled
unadulterated sea salt
Make a cut below the pectoral fin and take out the innards: wash the cavity of each fish. Weigh them, then calculate two per cent of their weight in salt – this will be something around 30 g (1 oz). Put the fish on a plate and pour the salt over them. Leave for 30 minutes at room temperature rather than in the refrigerator. Wipe the fish dry and free of salt just before grilling.
You can cook the fish at this point, protecting the fins and tail with bits of foil. Charcoal gives the best result – about 4 minutes a side.
The alternative, if you have long wooden skewers, looks more attractive, and is what a Japanese cook would do. Put the fish on a board, heads to the left. Push in a skewer just below the eye, pass it through the fish and through the tail, curving it up slightly. The second skewer goes in below the first and should emerge underneath the tail. These skewers hold the upward curve of the tail. Rub the fish over again with salt, particularly around the tail. Grill over charcoal if possible, or under a preheated grill, cooking the ‘front’, i.e. head-to-the-left side, first.
To serve, put on a serving plate, remove the foil and skewers and decorate with lemon slices or white radish grated into threads as fine as angel’s hair scattered with a few pinches of chopped parsley.
For a dipping sauce for fish, which is by no means essential, mix together:
6 tablespoons shoyu (Japanese soy sauce)
2 tablespoons rice vinegar or white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh peeled ginger, grated
Divide between six little pots.
SASHIMI I
Of all the ways of eating fish, this is the best. But – and there is a but especially as far as Britain is concerned – the fish must be fresh, sparkling almost. On the fishmonger’s slab, it should look irresistible, scales gleaming, skin pearly and full of light.
Always try to buy two contrasting tones and textures of fish. Three is even better. Favourites are sea bream, the better flounders and flatfish, tuna, mackerel, cuttlefish, and in Japan and the Pacific two Sillago species, the Indian or Silver whiting and the Trumpeter whiting, as well as half-beak (Hemirhamphus marginatus) which is similar to flying fish in flavour and texture.
As the fish for sashimi are not cured in the sense that gravadlax is cured with salt, sugar and dill, the accompanying sauce is important to show off the fish. A number of French chefs have taken the whole idea over and transformed the look of the dish: they tend to slice the fish paper-thin, arrange it on plates like smoked salmon, and brush it over with flavoured oils and lemon juice just before serving. Another popular style, especially with salmon, is to chop the fish into tiny dice and mix it with a