Sea-Bream Salt Broth (鯛の潮汁, Tai no Ushiojiru)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide pot
• •Fine-mesh skimmer
• •Lidded lacquer soup bowls or small ceramic soup bowls
• •Chopsticks or tweezers for cleaning bones

Instructions

1. 1

   Choose the fish

   Ask for a very fresh sea-bream head and bones, with the gills removed and the head split if your monger will do it. The fish should smell clean and faintly sweet, never strong or sour. This soup has no soy-dark sauce to hide behind, so sourcing is the first technique.

   If the fish is tired, change the dish. Grill it or simmer it with stronger seasoning, but don't ask ushiojiru to cover poor fish. It won't, and it shouldn't.
2. 2

   Salt briefly

   Sprinkle the fish pieces lightly with a little salt and leave them for 10 minutes. The salt draws out surface moisture and a little fishiness, which gives you a cleaner broth. Pat away the moisture with paper towels before the next step.

3. 3

   Blanch and rinse

   Set the fish pieces in a bowl and pour boiling water over them just until the surface turns white, about 10 seconds. Drain at once, then rinse under cold running water, using your fingers or chopsticks to remove scales, blood, and dark bits around the bones. Be gentle. You're cleaning the surface, not washing away the flavor inside.

   This is shimofuri, a quick hot-water blanch. It tightens the surface so impurities release cleanly, and it is the plain difference between a clear soup and a muddy one.
4. 4

   Steep the konbu

   Wipe the konbu with a damp cloth, but don't wash it. Put it in a pot with the cold water and bring it up slowly over low heat. Pull the konbu when the water trembles and small bubbles climb the sides, before it boils. Boiled konbu can turn the broth bitter and slick, and this soup wants a clean edge.

5. 5

   Simmer the bones

   Add the cleaned fish pieces and sake to the pot. Bring the liquid back only to a bare simmer, then lower the heat so the surface quivers rather than rolls. Skim foam and fat as they rise, especially in the first 10 minutes. A hard boil breaks the fish and clouds the broth; a quiet simmer draws out sweetness and leaves the soup clear.

6. 6

   Season with salt

   After 20 to 25 minutes, taste the broth. Add the salt a little at a time until the sea-bream flavor comes forward and the broth tastes bright, not salty. Stop before it tastes like seawater. Salt is the seasoning here, not the subject.

7. 7

   Serve clear

   Warm four lidded soup bowls if you can. Place one handsome piece of fish in each bowl, ladle the clear broth around it, and finish with a small sprig of mitsuba and a thin strip of yuzu peel. Serve at once, while the surface is still glossy and calm.

Chef Tips

• •Ask the fishmonger for ara, the head and bones left from breaking down a whole sea bream. The head gives the best broth, especially the collar and bones around the cheeks.
• •Remove the gills if they are still attached. They make broth taste muddy and metallic, and no amount of skimming fixes that later.
• •Do not add katsuobushi to this soup. In ordinary clear soup, bonito is a foundation. Here the sea bream itself is the foundation, and bonito would blur the taste you came for.
• •Use a pale salt you know well and add it in stages. The right seasoning makes the fish taste sweeter; too much salt makes the bowl small and loud.
• •For a formal bowl, choose one clean piece of head or collar per serving and one seasonal accent. A clear soup crowded with garnish loses its dignity quickly. Leave it room.

Advance Preparation

• •The fish can be salted, blanched, rinsed, and refrigerated up to 6 hours ahead. Cover it well and keep it cold.
• •The konbu can soak in the measured cold water for 2 to 8 hours in the refrigerator. Warm it gently and remove it before the water boils.
• •The finished broth is best served the day it is made. If you must hold it, strain it, chill it quickly, and reheat gently without boiling.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 300g)