Hi, I’m Francis,
the host of this show "Cooking with Dog."
First, let’s prepare the saba, mackerel fillet.
With kitchen tweezers, remove the small bones from the middle of the fillet.
Flip the mackerel over,
cut it in half
and make a shallow diagonal cut in the skin of each piece.
Add water to a large amount of boiling water to bring it just below the boiling point.
With a mesh strainer, submerge a piece of mackerel into the hot water.
When the surface turns white, immediately drop it into a bowl of ice water.
Repeat this process for the other piece of mackerel.
Next, gently rinse the surface of the fillet
and remove the moisture thoroughly with a paper towel.
This process will help remove the fishy smell and clean the surface.
Now, let’s simmer the mackerel.
Combine the water, sake,
sugar
and mirin in a pan.
Dissolve half of the miso in a ladle
and then distribute it into the mixture.
Turn on the burner
and bring it to a boil.
Place the fillet into the miso sauce with the skin side facing up.
Bring the sauce to a boil again
and remove the foam with a mesh strainer.
Drop in the ginger root slices and the green part of the long green onion
to help cover the fishy smell.
Place the dampened wooden drop-lid called otoshi buta onto the fillet
to help it cook evenly.
Simmer for 5 minutes on medium heat.
Uncover
and remove the long green onion.
Ladle the broth into a bowl and dissolve the rest of the miso
and then distribute it back into the pan.
Adding the miso in 2 steps
will help prevent the miso from losing its aroma.
Add the bell pepper,
cover
and simmer for 2 to 3 more minutes.
Uncover
and remove the bell pepper before it fades in color.
Ladle the miso sauce over the fillet
and reduce the sauce without the drop-lid.
Turn off the burner
and place the fillet onto a plate.
Put the bell pepper next to it
and ladle the miso sauce over the mackerel.
Finally, garnish with the shiraganegi, the shredded white part of the long green onion.
For the drop-lid you can substitute aluminum foil
or parchment paper with several half inch holes.
In that case, you should place some kind of small weight on top, for example a light plate.
Please watch our yakibuta ramen video
on how to make the shiraganegi, shredded long green onion.
Good luck in the kitchen!