Japanese · Breakfast · Lunch · Dinner
Salt-Grilled Mackerel
塩焼き鯖 (Saba no Shioyaki)
Rich, omega-3-packed mackerel fillets lightly salted and grilled until the skin is blistered and crisp. Served the classic way with a mound of fresh grated daikon and a squeeze of lemon.
- Prep
- 30 min
- Cook
- 10 min
- Total
- 40 min
- Serves
- 2
Calories come from: Carbs 7% · Fat 58% · Protein 35%
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Ingredients
For 2 servings- 2 fillets (about 150 g each)mackerel fillets, skin on, pin bones removed
- 1 tbsp15 gsake
- 1/2 tspfine sea salt
- 1 piece, about 8 cm150 gdaikon radish
- 1/2 lemon, cut into wedges40 glemon
Steps
- 1
Pat the mackerel fillets dry with paper towels.
- 2
Brush both sides of the fillets with the sake.
- 3
Score the skin of each fillet with two or three shallow diagonal cuts.
- 4
Sprinkle the salt evenly over both sides of the fish.
- 5
Leave the fillets on a plate in the fridge for 20 minutes to draw out moisture.
- 6
Meanwhile, peel the daikon and grate it finely, then squeeze out the excess liquid gently.
- 7
Preheat the grill (broiler) to high and line a tray with foil.
- 8
Pat away the moisture beaded on the fish with paper towels.
- 9
Place the fillets skin side up on the tray and grill 8 to 10 minutes, until the skin is crisp and browned and the flesh flakes easily and reaches 63 °C / 145 °F.
- 10
Serve the mackerel with a mound of grated daikon and the lemon wedges for squeezing over.
Swaps, storage and make-ahead
Swaps
- Use whole Pacific saury (sanma) instead of mackerel fillets for the traditional autumn version, grilling a little longer since the fish is whole.
- Swap the lemon for sudachi, yuzu or lime if you can find them for a more classic Japanese citrus note.
- Replace the sake with mirin or a splash of rice vinegar, or simply skip it and pat the fish dry before salting.
- Use salmon or sea bass fillets if mackerel is hard to find, cooking until the flesh flakes easily and reaches 63 °C / 145 °F.
Storage
This dish is best eaten fresh while the skin is crisp; refrigerate any leftover fish within 2 hours in a covered container for up to 3 days and reheat until steaming hot, or enjoy it cold flaked over rice. Store grated daikon separately and use it within a day, and don't freeze the cooked fish as it turns dry and strong-tasting.
Make ahead
You can salt the fillets up to a few hours ahead and keep them covered in the fridge, patting them dry just before grilling. The daikon can be grated and squeezed a few hours in advance and kept chilled in a covered bowl.
Nutrition values are for the recipe as written.
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Allergens and nutrition
Contains: Fish
Check the labels of packaged ingredients for allergens and suitability for your diet.
Full nutrition
| Per serving (254 g) | Per 100 g | |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 337 kcal | 133 kcal |
| Protein | 28.6 g | 11.3 g |
| Carbohydrates | 5.3 g | 2.1 g |
| of which sugars | 2.4 g | 0.9 g |
| Fiber | 1.8 g | 0.7 g |
| Fat | 21 g | 8.3 g |
| of which saturated | 4.9 g | 1.9 g |
| Sodium | 733 mg | 289 mg |
Nutrition is calculated from USDA FoodData Central data and may differ from what you cook.
