Split and Dried Horse Mackerel (鰺の開き, Aji no Hiraki)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Japanese fish grill (sakana-yaki grill), oven broiler, toaster-oven broiler, or well-seasoned grill pan
• •Fine grater (oroshigane), or the small holes of a box grater
• •Fish spatula or long cooking chopsticks
• •Wire rack for thawing and drying the surface

Instructions

1. 1

   Grate the daikon

   Grate the daikon, gather it in your hand, and squeeze only until it holds a soft mound. It should still feel moist. Grate it now, before the fish goes on, because grilled aji waits for no one and the sharp bite of daikon fades as it sits.

2. 2

   Dry the fish

   Lay the aji no hiraki on a rack and pat both sides with paper towel, especially the skin and tail. If it was frozen, it should be fully thawed first. Don't rinse prepared himono. The salt has already done its work, and water slackens the surface you want to crisp.

   The fish should smell clean and faintly marine, never sour. If the smell is strong, change the dish. Sauce won't rescue a tired fish.
3. 3

   Heat the grill

   Heat a Japanese fish grill, oven broiler, toaster-oven broiler, or well-seasoned grill pan to medium-high. If using a broiler, set the rack about 6 inches from the heat. Line the tray with foil and oil the rack lightly. Give the heat five minutes to settle. A hot, lightly oiled rack grips less, so the skin crisps instead of tearing when you turn it.

4. 4

   Grill skin first

   Set the fish with the skin facing the heat: skin-side up under a broiler or fish grill, skin-side down on a grill pan. Grill for 3-4 minutes, until the skin tightens, the silver turns tawny in places, and the tail and fin tips are crisp. Skin first matters because the dried, salted surface needs direct heat to render a little oil and firm up before the tender opened flesh sees the fire.

5. 5

   Gild the flesh

   Turn the fish once, supporting the head and body so it doesn't break at the middle. Grill the flesh side for 2-3 minutes, just until the cut face is pale gold in patches, oil beads on the surface, and the thickest part flakes when nudged with chopsticks. Hiraki is thin. If you wait for a heavy crust, you've waited past the best point.

   Pull it while the flesh still looks glossy. The fish is already seasoned and partly dried, so its last enemy is overcooking, not under-seasoning.
6. 6

   Serve at once

   Set the fish head-left, tail-right, flesh side showing, with grated daikon at the front right and the citrus wedge beside it. Spoon a little soy sauce onto the daikon, not across the fish. The fish is seasoned already; the daikon gives the oil a clean edge, and the empty space on the plate keeps the meal calm. Eat with hot rice, miso soup, and pickles.

Chef Tips

• •Prepared himono is one of the rare convenience foods I respect without wincing. The work has already been done: splitting, salting, drying. Your job is to buy one that smells clean and grill it before it dries out.
• •Look for ma-aji when it is in shun, late spring through summer, with clear eyes and a firm belly if buying fresh. For prepared hiraki, choose skin that still shines and flesh that looks dry but not chalky.
• •Don't soak a prepared aji no hiraki to tame salt. If it is salty, serve smaller bites with rice and daikon. Soaking gives you a wetter fish and no better flavor, which is a poor trade.
• •The broiler is a sensible stand-in for a Japanese fish grill. Keep the fish close enough to color in minutes, but not so close that the fins blacken before the flesh gilds.
• •Soy goes on the grated daikon, not over the fish. The daikon takes the salt and oil and gives each bite a clean edge.

Advance Preparation

• •Prepared aji no hiraki can be thawed overnight in the refrigerator on a rack set over a tray. Leave it uncovered for the last 30 minutes if the rack and refrigerator are clean; the dry surface grills better.
• •To make your own from fresh aji, ask the fishmonger for se-biraki, opened from the back with head and tail left on. Soak the opened fish for 25-30 minutes in an 8% salt brine, 80g salt to 1L cold water, rinse quickly, pat dry, then dry on a rack in the refrigerator for 6-12 hours until the surface feels tacky. Grill within a day or freeze.
• •Grate daikon just before serving. It loses its clean bite as it sits, and that bite is what keeps the oily fish lively.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 140g)