Teriyaki saury

Pacific saury. First time I know the English name of this fish, from Wikipedia.  I usually call it in Japanese, which is Sanma. Sanma is in season since a month ago and from what I`ve seen, the most common and simple way to cook this fish is by rubbing some salt on the whole fish and grilling or broiling it. Very tasty, I tell you. The only downside, like other fish, is the bones. Sanma actually has a lot of bones scattered throughout its flesh and I usually pressure-cook sanma or other bony fish to make the bones more edible (I had posted it here) and to make my husband enjoy the fish more. However, this time I turned away from my pressure cooker, cooked the fish using my regular frying pan, and hoped that we could handle the bones during eating.

Anyway, I was lucky to get this gutted sanma from the store, although actually doing the gutting myself won`t take more than 10 minutes. Well, I chose less mess for me to clean up. You see how the sanma laid partly on my counter and above the sink? I put a small bowl next to fish and that`s how big my kitchen counter is.

Cut the fish into smaller pieces, wash, and pat dry with paper towel.

Dust the fish pieces evenly with flour. This will help the fish to hold its texture during frying. That`s what I heard from TV.

Heat oil on medium heat and sear the fish.

When both sides has turned golden brown, set aside on a plate. Don`t eat them yet. I know you want to.

By the way, remove oil used for frying fish from the pan and wipe off the pan surface with paper towel to make it super clean. We don`t need any oil for the next steps. 

For the sauce, grate a good amount of fresh ginger. By all means, please use the fresh one.

To the grated ginger, pour in soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, mirin (I didn`t add this one) and pepper and mix well. Salt? I didn`t add even a pinch of it because this sauce is already salty for me.

Set your clean pan over low heat and pour in the sauce. 

Put in the fried fish.

And while the sauce is cooking, flip over the fish to get both sides evenly coated. Cook until the sauce has reduced into glaze and sprinkle in sesame seeds. If you`re worried about the fish not getting cooked through, set a lid over the pan and cook it for a few more minutes. Be careful, though, the sauce will thicken quite fast and get scorched if you don`t watch it.

Although the ingredients are utterly simple, this dish is an absolute pleaser. The flavors coming out from the fish and the sweet savory glaze were just fantastic!

The bones? Yeah, they`re still there making my chopsticks busy. Maybe next time I will tenderize the bones first. But hey, you can choose your own fish and still try this recipe because you have to experience this yumminess. With or without bones. Trust me.

Print recipe

TERIYAKI SAURY

Ingredients:

2 sanma (Pacific saury)

1 tbs flour for dusting

3 tsp grated ginger

50 ml soy sauce

2 tbs vinegar
Mirin (I didn`t add)

1 tsp sugar

Pepper

Sesame seed

Method:

1. Gut and cut Pacific saury (or other fish) into small pieces.

2. Wash the pieces and pat dry with paper towel.

3.  Lightly dust the fish with flour.

4. Sear the flour-coated fish with a bit of oil in a frying pan over medium heat until both sides get nicely browned. Set aside.

5. Wipe off the frying pan to clean the remaining oil and set aside.

6. For the sauce, grate fresh ginger in a container and add soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, mirin, and salt and stir well.

7. Set the cleaned frying pan over low heat and pour in the sauce. 

8. Put the seared fish pieces in the pan and cook both sides to coat with the sauce evenly until the sauce has thickened.

9. Garnish the fish with sesame seeds and serve.