Broiled sake-marinated chilean sea bass in shiso broth

6 Servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
¾ cup Soy sauce
6½ tablespoon Mirin (sweet Japanese cooking wine)*
¼ cup Sake or dry sherry
6 tablespoons Plus 1-1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon Grated fresh ginger
1 teaspoon Minced garlic
2¼ pounds Chilean sea bass or cod fillet, cut into 6 pieces
3 ounces Medium-width dried rice noodles*
2 tablespoons Sesame seeds
2 cups Chicken Stock, or canned low-sodium chicken broth
2½ tablespoon Rice-wine vinegar or white-wine vinegar
1½ teaspoon Asian sesame oil
1 Carrot, cut into 2-inch-long matchstick strips
1 Leek, white and light-green parts only, cut into 2-inch-long matchstick strips and washed well
½ pounds Shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and caps sliced
½ pounds Spinach, stems removed and leaves washed
6 Shiso or basil leaves, sliced thin
2 tablespoons Chopped fresh chives or scallion tops

Directions

*Available at Asian markets and some supermarkets From: - Terra * St. Helena -

1. In a shallow glass dish or stainless-steel pan, combine ½ cup of the soy sauce, 4 tablespoons of the mirin, the sake, 6 tablespoons of the sugar, ¾ teaspoon of the ginger and ¾ teaspoon of the garlic.

Add the fish fillets and arrange them so that they are completely covered with the marinade. Let the Chilean sea bass marinate in the refrigerator for about 6 hours. 2. In a large bowl, cover the rice noodles with warm water and leave to soften, about 10 minutes. Drain.

3. In a small frying pan, toast the sesame seeds over moderate heat, stirring frequently, until light brown, about 3 minutes. Or toast them in a 350 B0 oven for 15 minutes.

4. In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the rice noodles until just done, about 3 minutes. Drain.

5. Heat the broiler. Drain the fish and discard the marinade. Put the fish on a baking sheet and broil until the fish is just cooked through, about 5 minutes.

6. Meanwhile, in a medium pot, combine the remaining ¼ cup soy sauce, 2-½ tablespoons mirin, 1-½ teaspoons sugar, ¼ teaspoon ginger, ¼ teaspoon garlic, the Chicken Stock, rice-wine vinegar and sesame oil. Bring to a boil over moderately high heat. Add the carrot, leek and mushrooms and simmer for 1 minute. Add the cooked noodles, the spinach and two thirds of the shiso leaves. Simmer for 30 seconds longer.

7. Transfer the noodles and vegetables to plates. Pour on the broth and top with the fish. Sprinkle the fish with the toasted sesame seeds, the remaining shiso leaves and the chives.

Chilean sea bass has a very different texture from that of other fish. Even when it is cooked to well-done, the fish remains soft.

Since it doesn't firm up, you'll need to check its temperature to tell whether it's done. Stab a small bamboo stick into the middle of the fillet. Leave for a moment, pull it out and touch the end. If it's hot, the fish is ready.

Chilean sea bass is not interchangeable with other bass. If you can't find it, cod is a closer substitute than a different type of sea bass. In place of the shiso leaves, you can use basil. Sweet sherry, while not as sweet as mirin, can be used in its place.

A dry gew FCrztraminer or riesling from the Napa Valley or Alsace has almost the same balance of sweetness and acidity as the sake, and complements the ginger and shiso.

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