Sea Bream Rice

Tai Meshi

Whole fish is cooked with the rice

Equipment

Double-lid donabe rice cooker, "Kamado-san" (3 rice-cup size)

Servings

4

Ingredients

• 1 (about 1 pound/ 450 g) whole sea bream (also called “tai snapper”), cleaned
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 rice-cups (360 ml) short grain rice, rinsed and drained
• 1 1/4 cups (300 ml) dashi stock
• 2 tablespoons sake
• 1 tablespoon light-color soy sauce ("usukuchi shoyu")
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• some mitsuba herb, chopped
• a knob ginger, sliced into needle-thin
• some sansho pepper powder

Procedure

1. Season all sides including the cavity of the fish with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Set aside  for 20-30 minutes.
2. Pat-dry the fish with paper towel. Make 3 slight incisions on each side of the fish crosswise with a knife.
   
3. Drizzle the olive oil and rub on both sides of the fish. Wrap the tail with a piece of aluminum foil. Broil both sides until the skin is lightly browned (about 2 minutes each side). Remove foil from the tail.
4. Meanwhile, in "Kamado-san", combine the rice, dashi stock, sake, soy sauce, and salt. Let the rice soak in liquid for 20 minutes.
5. Pat-dry the fish to remove excess oil and carefully lay it over the rice. If the fish doesn’t fit, bend the tail upward.
   
6. Cover "Kamado-san" with both lids and cook over medium-high heat for 13-15 minutes or until 2-3 minutes after the steam starts puffing from the top lid.
7. Turn off the heat and let it stand for 20 minutes.
8. Carefully remove the fish and transfer to a plate. Remove the head and bones from the fish and discard. (But you can eat the collagen-rich eye balls, like me!)
9. Transfer the fish back to "Kamado-san" and gently fluff with the rice with a rice paddle. Garnish with some ginger and mitsuba. Serve into individual bowls and sprinkle some sansho pepper (if you like) to enjoy.