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Saba no Misoni (Mackerel Simmered in Miso and Ginger)

Saba no Misoni (Mackerel Simmered in Miso and Ginger) reads umami 6.5, sweetness 5.3 and funk & ferment 5.1 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Japanese main, about 23 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

The measured notes (of 18)

Umami 6.5 · Sweetness 5.3 · Funk & Ferment 5.1 · Salinity 4.9 · Richness 3.5 · Allium 3.3 · Warm Spice 2.4 · Marine & Briny 2.2 · Herbaceous 2.1 · Floral 1.5 · Fruity 1.5 · Earthy 1.3 · Nutty 1.0 · Sourness 0.8 · Bitterness 0.7

What's in it (10)

Time & effort: about 23 min · effort: medium

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 14 kcal, 0.5 g protein, 0.2 g fat, 2.8 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat · Contains seafood — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (7 steps)

  1. Score the skin of each steak with two shallow cuts so it does not curl. Lay the pieces in a colander and pour the boiling water over them, then drop them into cold water and rub off any clinging blood or scale. Mackerel is the strongest-smelling of the everyday fish and this scald is what makes it a mild dish rather than a fierce one.
  2. Bring the water, sake, mirin, sugar and ginger coins to a boil in a pan wide enough to hold the fish in one layer. Boil hard for 1 minute to burn off the alcohol.
  3. Lay the mackerel in skin-side up, cover with a drop lid or a circle of parchment, and simmer at a steady but unaggressive bubble for 8 minutes, spooning liquid over the tops occasionally. Do not stir; simmered fish is basted, never turned.
  4. Ladle out about 4 tablespoons of the hot cooking liquid into a small bowl and whisk the miso into it until completely smooth, then pour it back around, not over, the fish. Miso dropped straight into the pan sits in lumps and, if boiled, loses its aroma within a minute.
  5. Simmer 6 to 8 minutes more with the drop lid back on, until the sauce has thickened to the consistency of double cream and darkened. Add the soy sauce at the very end and give the pan a gentle shake.
  6. Serve one steak per person with plenty of the sauce spooned over, the ginger needles heaped on top and the scallions scattered. This is a weekday dish in Japan, made with the fish that was cheapest at the market, and it is at its best with nothing beside it but rice and a bowl of tonjiru.
  7. Substitutions: 40 g red miso if you want it darker can stand in for the awase miso.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.