A Gift Fish

On Sunday night, spouse sent home 2 kg of chicken breasts (sasami) from the restaurant, as wouldn't be used before the expiration date.  He uses only Awa-odori chicken, which is a local bird, large size, and quite delicious.  That gift led to last night's dinner.  I split it with the neighbor, who is a fish wholesaler, and she gave me half of a Katsuo (skipjack tuna).  I'm not very creative with fish, so after a consulting with the family, we decided to have half as sashimi, and half as Katsuo tataki.  Served with salad, a chicken dish and rice, it was a delicious meal. (Also a "use-up whatever possible before it spoils meal") 

Sashimi

Always very popular. Dip it in soy sauce with wasabi mixed in, and squeeze in some sudachi juice if you have it (other citrus fruits like lemon or lime are OK too) Avocado dipped in soysauce with wasabi is also quite good.  I said I received half a fish, and had to separate the bones, as well as remove the skin.  I'm sure there must be a "proper" way to do this, but I don't know it.  I think I'll need to get my neighbor to show me how sometime... Somehow we managed it, (Son and I were cooking...punctuated by his comments of  "I'm STARVING...can't I eat this now????")  and there were no injuries.  I still think I prefer buying fish that only needs to be sliced, but am thankful for the gift regardless.  We put this half in the fridge to chill after slicing it for sashimi.

Katsuo Tataki

I have never made this before, but it actually garnered a compliment from Chef spouse.  Lightly salt the fish, then grill it for 15-20 seconds on each side.  Place it in ice water to chill. I prepared flavoring for it by mixing grated ginger, garlic and daikon radish with just a dash of lemon juice and soy sauce added.  Dry off the fish by patting it with paper towels.  Coat it in the flavoring, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate until just before serving.  Slice and serve with thinly sliced onions and soy sauce for dipping.

The rest of the menu was this simple salad, onions, shiitake mushrooms and chicken flavored with pepper and dipped in ponzu sauce, and of course, steamed rice.  Not beautiful and artistic, but still delicious!