Imabari Tai-meshi (今治鯛めし, Ehime sea bream rice)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Donabe rice pot, or a rice cooker
• •Fish grill, broiler, or wide skillet
• •Rice paddle (shamoji)
• •Fish tweezers or clean chopsticks for removing bones
• •Fine-mesh strainer lined with cloth for dashi

Instructions

1. 1

   Wash the rice

   Wash the rice in several changes of cold water, turning it gently with your hand until the water runs mostly clear. Drain it in a sieve for 20 to 30 minutes. This is not fussing over rice for sport. Washing removes loose starch so the grains cook distinct, and draining lets them take in the seasoned dashi evenly instead of turning wet at the surface and hard at the center.

   Short-grain rice needs that resting drain. Skip it and the timing becomes guesswork, which is a poor way to treat a good fish.
2. 2

   Salt the sea bream

   Pat the sea bream very dry, inside and out. Sprinkle it with 1 teaspoon of the salt, including a little inside the belly, and leave it on a rack for 20 minutes. The salt seasons the flesh and draws out surface moisture, so the skin can brown instead of steaming against the grill. Wipe away any beads of moisture before cooking.

   Fresh fish should smell clean and faintly sweet, never strong. If the fish isn't good enough to cook plainly, change the dish. Nothing hidden.
3. 3

   Brown the fish

   Heat a fish grill, broiler, or wide skillet. Grill or sear the sea bream over medium-high heat just until the skin is lightly browned on both sides, 2 to 3 minutes per side. You are not cooking it through. You are giving the skin fragrance and tightening the surface so the fish holds together when it sits on the rice.

   If the tail is thin, wrap it in a small piece of foil while browning. It protects the shape, and this dish is partly about carrying the whole fish to the table with dignity.
4. 4

   Season the dashi

   In the rice cooker bowl or a heavy donabe, combine the cooled dashi, usukuchi shōyu, sake, mirin, the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, and the ginger juice if using. Taste it before the rice goes in. It should be slightly more seasoned than a broth you would drink, because the rice will soften it as it cooks.

   Use clear homemade dashi here. Instant powder gives salt before depth, and in tai-meshi the stock is not background. It is what the rice becomes.
5. 5

   Set the pot

   Add the drained rice to the seasoned dashi and level it gently. Lay the small piece of konbu on top if using, then set the browned sea bream over the rice. Keep the fish above the grains rather than burying it. As the rice cooks, the fish juices fall down into the pot while the flesh stays intact enough to lift cleanly.

   A donabe, an earthenware rice pot, gives a beautiful table presentation. A rice cooker works honestly too. The method matters more than the romance of the vessel.
6. 6

   Cook the rice

   Cook on the regular white-rice setting, or set the covered donabe over medium heat until it comes to a steady boil, then lower the heat and cook for 13 minutes. Turn off the heat and let it rest, still covered, for 10 minutes. The rest is part of the cooking. It finishes the grains, settles the moisture, and keeps the fish from tearing when you move it.

   Don't keep lifting the lid to inspect your courage. Each look releases heat and throws off the rice.
7. 7

   Bone and fold

   Lift the sea bream onto a tray. Remove the head, backbone, ribs, pin bones, and any small bones around the fins with chopsticks or tweezers, then flake the flesh into generous pieces. Discard the konbu. Return the fish to the rice and fold gently from the bottom with a rice paddle, cutting through the grains rather than mashing them. Keep some flakes large enough to see.

   The one danger in this dish is bones hidden in the rice. Work slowly now. A celebration should not require dental bravery.
8. 8

   Finish and serve

   Scatter the mitsuba and sesame over the rice, with a few threads of yuzu peel if you have them. Serve from the pot or mound restrained portions in individual bowls. The rice should be glossy and separate, scented with sea bream and dashi, with the fish carried through in clean flakes rather than paste.

Chef Tips

• •Ask the fishmonger for whole madai that came in today, scaled and gutted but not filleted. The eyes should be clear, the gills bright red, and the skin glistening fresh. Sourcing first, always.
• •If whole madai is unavailable, use a smaller whole sea bream or porgy from clean cold water. Fillets will make good rice, but not this dish in the same way, because the bones and skin help season the pot and the whole fish is part of the occasion.
• •Make ichiban dashi for this, not a powdered substitute. Wipe the konbu, steep it slowly, pull it before the boil, then add katsuobushi off the heat and strain without squeezing. Clarity is the flavor here.
• •A donabe is the handsome vessel, but a rice cooker is a sensible stand-in. Brown the fish first either way. That step gives the rice a roasted fragrance a raw fish cannot provide.
• •Fold the fish back into the rice lightly. Pressing with the paddle breaks the grains and turns a celebratory pot into fish porridge, which is not the triumph we're after.

Advance Preparation

• •The ichiban dashi can be made up to 2 days ahead and refrigerated. Bring it back to cool room temperature before measuring it for the rice.
• •The rice can be washed and drained 30 minutes before cooking. Do not leave washed rice sitting wet for hours, or the grains take in water unevenly.
• •The sea bream can be scaled, gutted, salted, and refrigerated on a rack up to 4 hours ahead. Wipe it dry again before browning.
• •Tai-meshi is best served soon after cooking. Leftovers keep 1 day refrigerated and make a fine ochazuke with hot tea or light dashi poured over, but the first serving is the dish at its clearest.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 320g)