Iwashi

Lately we have been discussing that more restaurants should do whole fish preparations, but often you run into the issue of intimidating guests. Do you fry it, steam it, take the head off? These are questions that arise as we discuss ideas. How big of a fish do we use, does seeing eyeballs scare away  interested guests? As a chef you have to play to your clientele, while still expressing yourself. What is it about seeing your food whole in this culture that scares people, while in other cultures it is a sign of care and quality? Well in our case we decided to give it a shot. We got these beautiful Sardines in from San Sebastian and tried to figure out how to make them approachable. This is how we did that.

Whole Emperor Sardine (Iwashi)

Scaled and ready to debone.

First we clip off the dorsal fin.

Then you make a cut on either side of the head and pull the head away, which in turn removes the entrails.

Head and entrails intact.

Then you remove the belly and clean out the cavity.

Then by running your finger down the spine you can separate it from the filet and essentially peel it out of the fish.

Here we removed the spine, leaving the tail fins on for presentation and to later be used as a handle for dipping.

We used a technique known as Karaage in Japanese, which basically means lightly coated in starch and deep fried. This helps to soften the small edible bones in the fish and give the fish a nice texture.

 

 The fish were skewered in a swimming motion and then coated and fried. We paired it with a small salad of Mizuna and Daikon, that was dressed in a fish sauce-lemongrass gastrique, and served it with a side of Sesame Leaf and Katsuoboshi infused soy.

Still a whole fish, but more approachable.

Uku Palu

It has been a little while since we posted last, but this gem deserves its own post.

Called Blue-green Snapper in English (Aochibiki in Japanese), this Hawaiian species of Snapper is incredibly delicate in flavor while firm in texture. It is available year round, though the peak season is summer. Uku Palu is typically caught with deep water hand line gear. It can be eaten both cooked and as sashimi. Its versatility allows it to be prepared in a variety of ways, including steaming, sauteing, frying, and stewing. 

Here you can see the translucent pink flesh and the large scales. We left the scales on while butchering because, when cooked, they lend a nice crispiness and flavor. This technique is very common in Japanese izakyas.

Above is the finished dish. We seasoned the fish with Japanese sea salt and sansho pepper then shallow fried it. The salad below consisted of shaved Napa cabbage, sesame leaf, Thai chilies, and a sesame umeboshi vinaigrette.

We would like to thank our seafood purveyor, Supreme Lobster, for providing us with such beauties as this.

For more information about this fish follow this link to the Hawaii Seafood website http://www.hawaii-seafood.org/wild-hawaii-fish/bottomfish/blue-green-snapper-uku/.