Source: Shizuo Tsuji, Japanese Cooking
Servings: 4
Entered by: Regan Huff

From Shizuo Tsuji, Japanese Cooking: A Simple Feast, which came out in the early eighties with an introduction by M.F.K. Fisher and color illustrations apparently subsidized by Suntory whisky, which (it's noted) pairs well with many Japanese dishes. My friend Annie lent me this cookbook as an artifact, and because of my M.F.K. Fisher addiction. Mostly the recipes were too rigorous to make it in to my regular routine, but this salmon dish is simple and amazing.

Ingredients

  • salmon fillet, cut into 4 servings
  • 2 T butter plus scant amount of oil
  • 2 T rice vinegar
  • 2 T mirin (rice wine)
  • 1 T dark soy sauce
  • 1 cup green onion, finely chopped
  • 1 lemon

Instructions

  1. 1
    Salt the salmon: take a handful of salt; salt a cutting board, place fillet skin side down on salted board and let salt sift through your fingers down onto the fish. Wait 40-60 m for salt to penetrate.
  2. 2
    Heat scant amount of oil and fry both sides of salmon steaks for a few minutes over high heat. (This will produce a lot of smoke.) Discard oil in pan, add the butter (in several pats), and as soon as the salmon is coated with butter, remove to individual plates with a pancake turner or spatula.
  3. 3
    Into the buttery liquid and glaze that remains in the frying pan, add the rice vinegar, mirin, and dark soy sauce. Stir over high heat about 1 m. Add finely ch green onion and stir until just well mixed. Spoon this green onion sauce generously over salmon steaks and serve immediately. Garnish each plate with a lemon quarter.

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