Japanese Grilled Stuffed Mackerel Rolls Recipe
Serves/Makes: 3 – 4
Ingredients:
- 1 pound mackerel or Atlantic hairtail fillets
- 7 ounces (200 g) burdock root
- 1 cup (250 ml) Cold Basic Dashi Broth (see recipe below)
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) water
- 4 teaspoons sugar
- 3 tablespoons Seafood Glazing Sauce (see recipe below)
- Baby daikon radish, peeled and boiled in lightly salted water for 5 minutes, to serve
- Sansho* powder, to taste
How to cook Japanese Grilled Stuffed Mackerel Rolls:
- Clean the burdock, slice into quarters lengthwise and cut each quarter into 5-inch sticks. Bring the Cold Soba Dashi Broth, water and sugar to a boil in a saucepan. Add the burdock and boil for about 20 minutes, or until the burdock is soft enough to be pierced by a fork. Drain and cool.
- Cut the mackerel fillets into long strips that are about 1/2 inch thick. Take three sticks of boiled burdock and wind a strip of mackerel fillets around them to form a tight bundle. Fasten the bundles by inserting 2 or 3 skewers across the burdock sticks. Continue until all the burdock sticks and mackerel fillets are used up.
- Grill the wrapped burdock bundles under a broiler or over a charcoal fire for about 10 minutes or until the mackerel fillets is cooked, brushing the outside with Seafood Glazing Sauce and turning over three or four times to brown evenly.
- Remove the skewers and cut the rolls into 3/4-inch pieces. Serve with the cooked daikon and a sprinkling of the sansho pepper.
Basic Dashi Stock (Bonita Flake) Ingredients:
- 4 inches square piece konbu, wiped clean
- 4 cups water
- 1/4 cup cold water
- 3 ounces bonito flakes
How to cook Basic Dashi Stock (Bonita Flake):
- Cut konbu square into 4 narrow strips. Place in a saucepan with 4 cups water and cook over medium heat. Heat until just about to boil, then quickly remove pan from the heat, remove and discard konbu.
- Add the cold water and bonito flakes to the konbu broth. Bring to a boil then remove immediately from heat, and set aside to cool.
- When all the bonito flakes have sunk to the bottom, pour the liquid over a strain and discard the flakes.
Seafood Glazing Sauce Ingredients:
- 3 tablespoons sake
- 2 tablespoons mirin (sweet rice wine)
- 2 tablespoons Japanese soy sauce
- 4 teaspoons sugar
- 1/2 cup fish stock
How to cook Seafood Glazing Sauce:
- To prepare the Seafood Glazing Sauce, place all the ingredients in a pan and bring to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to low, skim the surface and continue simmering until the sauce has reduced by half.
Comments:
*Sansho is known in Chinese as huajiao (literally “flower pepper”) a lesser-used name is shanjiao (literally “mountain pepper” not to be confused with Tasmanian mountain pepper). In Japanese, it is sansho, using the same Chinese characters as shanjiao. In Tibetan, it is known as g.yer ma. In America, it is sold as fagara or flower pepper as well as Sichuan pepper. Sichuan pepper has a unique aroma and flavor that is not hot or pungent like black or white pepper, or chili peppers, but has slight lemony overtones and creates in the mouth a kind of tingly numbness (caused by its 3% of hydroxy-alpha-sanshool) that sets the stage for these hot spices.
This recipe for Japanese Grilled Stuffed Mackerel Rolls serves/makes: 3 – 4
Main Ingredient: Mackerel
Preparation Method: Broiled/Grilled
Cuisine: Japanese