Salt-Grilled Sanma (秋刀魚の塩焼き, Sanma no Shioyaki)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Fish grill (yakizakana grill), konro or hichirin with charcoal, or an oven broiler
• •Wire rack set over a tray
• •Oroshigane (Japanese grater), or the fine side of a box grater
• •Fish spatula or long saibashi (cooking chopsticks)

Instructions

1. 1

   Choose the sanma

   Buy sanma the day you cook it, ideally in autumn. Look for clear full eyes, bright metallic skin, red gills if you can see them, and a belly that feels tight, not soft. A whole sanma carries its liver, so the belly matters most. If it is split, bloated, or smells sour, don't cook it whole. Sourcing first, always. No grill rescues tired fish.

   Ask the fishmonger one plain question: would you grill this whole today? A good answer is worth more than any label.
2. 2

   Rinse and dry

   Rinse the fish quickly under cold running water, rubbing away any loose scales with your fingers. Keep the belly intact if you want the old taste. Pat the fish very dry with paper towels, including around the head, tail, and fins. Do not soak it. Water dulls the surface, and a wet fish clings to the grate before it has a chance to brown.

3. 3

   Salt and rest

   Set the sanma on a rack over a tray. Sprinkle the fine salt evenly over both sides from a little height, about 1/2 teaspoon per fish, then rest for 15 minutes. Fine beads of moisture will appear on the skin. Blot them away gently, then add a very light final pinch of salt. This first salting draws water to the surface and firms the flesh, so what meets the grill is clean skin and fish, not dampness.

   Press a little coarse salt onto the tail and fins if you like. This is keshōjio, a protective finishing salt that helps the delicate edges stay pale instead of burning away.
4. 4

   Heat the grill

   Preheat a fish grill, konro, hichirin, or oven broiler until very hot, about 10 minutes. Oil the grate lightly. If using a broiler, set the rack close to the heat source and use a rack set over a tray. A hot start sets the skin before the flesh overcooks. A lukewarm grate behaves like glue, which is not a noble quality in cookware.

5. 5

   Grill the fish

   Lay the sanma on the hot grate and leave it alone for 4 to 5 minutes, until the skin blisters, browns, and releases when nudged. Turn once with a fish spatula or long saibashi, then grill 3 to 4 minutes more. The flesh should be opaque at the collar and hot through at the belly; if using a thermometer, the thickest part should reach 63°C / 145°F. Sanma is narrow, so one extra minute can dry it. Pull it while the skin is crisp and the body still feels supple.

   Do not keep turning it. The skin needs stillness to set, and the fish is too slender to survive much fussing.
6. 6

   Serve whole

   Grate the daikon and drain it lightly, leaving it moist. Plate each sanma head to the left, belly toward the diner, on a long dish. Set a small mound of grated daikon and a cut sudachi beside the fish, with shōyu served separately or touched to the daikon. The daikon catches the oil, the citrus brightens the fat, and the soy should season the garnish more than the fish. Eat the crisp skin, lift the flesh from the bone, and taste the liver if the fish was good enough to keep whole.

Chef Tips

• •Cook this when sanma is at shun if you can. Outside autumn, frozen sanma can be useful, but it is quieter. Better to cook the fish that is actually at its prime than chase the name on the calendar.
• •The liver is not a mistake. In fresh autumn sanma it gives a clean bitterness that belongs with the fat. If your fish is not that fresh, gut it and grill it anyway, but don't call that the same dish.
• •A hichirin or konro over charcoal gives the old flavor. An oven broiler is a sensible stand-in: preheat it hard, set the fish close, and let the skin blister before you turn.
• •Don't pour soy over the fish. Touch it to the grated daikon, then eat daikon with fish. The salt has already seasoned the flesh, and the daikon is there to catch oil, not drown it.
• •Mackerel and sardine take shioyaki well, but they are their own dishes. The method can travel; the name should stay honest.

Advance Preparation

• •Grate the daikon up to 1 hour ahead, cover, and refrigerate. Drain it lightly just before serving, but don't squeeze it dry; the juice softens the salt and carries the citrus.
• •Frozen sanma can thaw overnight in the refrigerator on a rack over a tray. Pat it very dry before salting, and use it whole only if the belly remains firm and clean.
• •Salt the fish only 15 to 20 minutes before cooking. Much longer and you begin curing the flesh, which makes the skin tough and the meat tight.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 200g)