We first had this at Sushi Taro in DC and enjoyed the dense meaty texture and unusual flavor. It gets this by an extended marinade in Sake Kasu -- the "lees" left over from making sake. It's a preservative, and allows us to marinate raw fish for for a week in the fridge without spoiling.
The "cod" is really West Coast sablefish but at $20-$30 per pound for the fish, it's a treat. Kasu comes in square flat-ish plastic packaging from the frozen section of Asian markets. I paid $3.40 for a 300g package at Katagiri in NYC but have also bought it Han ah Reum (Hmart) in Falls Church, VA and most recently Hana Japanese Market in DC.
The Uwajimaya market defines Kasuzuke and has link to Black Cod Kasuzuke. The New York Times has a good article on a number of Seattle chefs preparing this. I love this: Google's photo-translator says the package reads:
Flavor is rich and nourishing economical, it is well warm sake lees!!
Minced delicious recipe d) Kasujiru serving 40g lees of lees use, place for a while over the water, to the Toka to Kasujiru, and the lower salmon small, green onions, radishes, carrots, and include, but are boiled to put konjac such as an O-sweet In addition the Mizuyaku 200ml and sugar to alcohol serving 50g lees, dissolve over the fire. ● miso 6 by reducing the miso of miso soup amounting callings lees miso soup every day, please call up with the seasoned at a rate of sake lees 4. Sake lees, the spots of white or yellow or generated on the surface, you Yuki discolored (pink, etc.) without it, please use it and worry because is due to aging of sake lees. It should be noted that, lees, which is a by-product of sake might millet, etc. derived from the raw material rice is mixed but, please use by removing that there is no harm.
I've made this with Black Cod (Sable) and it's terrific, though the fish is $20-30 per pound from DC's better fishmongers. I've also made it -- at the same time with the same salt and marinade regimen -- with wild-caught Salmon and East Coast Cod: both came out very salty and dry, while the Sable came out moist and sweet; I don't know why. The Sable cooked without the marinade has a mucilaginous fatty layer under the skin which isn't appealing without the Kasu treatment. I've also done this with unsalted shrimp and scallops, simple and good. Some articles claim to reuse the Kasu marinade, and I've done it repeatedly with the same batch of kasu and lived to tell the tale.
Sushi Taro in DC serves this skin side up but I serve it skin-side down and don't tend to eat the skin. Maybe if I broiled it skin-side up it would be a bit more appetizing but then I'd lose the appealing flesh color.
Serves 2 for a main course of 4 for an appetiser
Ingredients
340 g Black Cod (Sable fish, 12 ounce)
23 g Kosher Salt (1/6 cup)
150 g Kasu (one half of 300g package, 5 oz)
25 g Sugar (1/8 cup)
60 ml Sake (1/4 cup)
Preparation
Salt both sides of the fish, cover and refrigerate 12-48 hours. When I did this with less salt for 24 hours it turned out more salty than more salt for 48 hours; I don't know why. You'll have to experiment. Rinse off the salt and pat dry.
Mix up the Kasu, Sugar and Sake until it's like a thick paste, mine was a bit too thick to pour. Put the fish -- whole -- into the marinade, coat well, and refrigerate for 7 days; you can use a zip-top bag for this. (I usually throw in some shelled shrimp for a chef's treat).
Wipe off the marinade and cut the fish into individual serving-sized chunks; the fish will have firmed up which makes for well-defined slices.
Place the pieces on a cookie sheet, skin-side down. Broil until the fish starts to brown and the fish is barely cooked; the sugar gives it an appealing darkness without over-cooking the fish.
We served this with Horensu Goma-ae, spinach with a toasted sesame dressing.
No comments:
Post a Comment