Japanese-Style Trout with Dashi

Grace Parisi does it again, courtesy of Food and Wine. The eel sauce is very good and can be adjusted easily to taste by adding or subtracting sugar. I like the eel sauce so much that I used the leftover for chicken fried rice that was amazing! Instead of using instant dash, I found an easy and good recipe on a website called Azelia's Kitchen.

1 cup soy sauce
1 cup mirin
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup unseasoned rice vinegar
1 teaspoon instant dashi
2 carrots, finely julienned
2 leeks, white and light green parts only, finely julienned
Four 6-ounce rainbow trout fillets, bones removed
Steamed sushi rice and crumbled nori, for serving

In a medium saucepan, bring the soy sauce, mirin, sugar and vinegar to a boil. Simmer over moderate heat until the glaze is reduced to about 1 1/2 cups, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in another medium saucepan, combine the dashi with 1 1/2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Add the carrots and leeks and simmer just until crisp-tender, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat and let stand.

Preheat the broiler and position a rack 6 to 8 inches from the heat. Arrange the trout fillets on a sturdy baking sheet, skin side up, and broil for about 2 minutes, until the skin begins to sizzle. Carefully peel off the skin. Brush the fish with some of the glaze and broil for 3 minutes, brushing once or twice more, until the sauce is lightly caramelized. Turn the fillets, brush liberally with more glaze and broil for 3 minutes longer, brushing once or twice, until the trout is cooked through and lacquered.

Mound rice in shallow bowls and drizzle lightly with the glaze. Using a slotted spoon, add the carrots and leeks. Top with the fish and nori and spoon the dashi into the bowls. Serve with the remaining glaze on the side.

DASHI - Mushroom Stock

The mushroom stock can be made couple of ways, soaking the mushrooms in room temperature water all day / overnight, or if speeding up the process bring the water to 30-40˚C.

60-100g whole dried mushrooms
2 litres of water approx (30-40˚C it’s just warm to the touch)

Bring the water to the right temperature and add mushrooms. Let them sit for few hours, the longer the stronger the stock. I prefer the stock on the milder side and between an 1-2hrs is fine for me.

Strain the mushroom stock, there will be some tiny gritty bits in the bottom.