Salt-Grilled Sardines (鰯の塩焼き, Iwashi no Shioyaki)

Sardines make nervous cooks suspicious before the grill is even hot. They are small, bony, and honest about freshness, which is exactly why they teach so well. When iwashi are glistening fresh, especially the fat rainy-season fish called nyūbai iwashi, they need almost nothing from you.

The first secret is salt with a little time. Salt pulls surface moisture from the skin and firms the flesh, so the fish browns cleanly instead of steaming in its own wetness. Wipe that moisture away before grilling. Don't rinse it off, unless you enjoy undoing your own work, a hobby I cannot recommend.

Shioyaki means salt-grilled, and the name tells you the whole method. This is yakimono, the grilled dish in the Japanese meal, set beside rice, soup, and pickles without ceremony. Serve it with grated daikon and a cut citrus, not to hide the fish but to clear its rich oil. If the sardine is good, let it stand plainly. Nothing hidden.