Recipe - Broiled Sake-Marinated Chilean Sea Bass In Shiso Broth

Three fourths cup Soy sauce
6 One half tablespoon Mirin (sweet Japanese
cooking wine)*
One fourth cup Sake or dry sherry
6 tablespoon Plus 1One half teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon Grated fresh ginger
1 teaspoon Minced garlic
2 One fourth pound Chilean sea bass or cod
fillet, cut into 6 pieces
3 ounce Mediumwidth dried rice
noodles*
2 tablespoon Sesame seeds
2 cup Chicken Stock, or canned
lowsodium chicken broth
2 One half tablespoon Ricewine vinegar or
whitewine vinegar
1 One half teaspoon Asian sesame oil
1 Carrot, cut into 2inchlong
matchstick strips
1 Leek, white and lightgreen
parts only, cut into
2inchlong matchstick
strips and washed well
One half pound Shiitake mushrooms, stems
removed and caps cut or sliced up
One half pound Spinach, stems removed and
leaves washed
6 Shiso or basil leaves,
cut or sliced up thin
2 tablespoon Chopped fresh chives or
scallion tops

*Available at Asian markets and some supermarkets

From: Terra * St. Helena

1. In a shallow glass dish or stainlesssteel pan, combine One half cup of the
soy sauce, 4 tablespoons of the mirin, the sake, 6 tablespoons of the
sugar, Three fourths teaspoon of the ginger and Three fourths teaspoon of the garlic. Add the
fish fillets and arrange them so that they are completely covered with the
marinade. Let the Chilean sea bass marinate in the refrigerator for about 6
hours.

2. In a large bowl, cover the rice noodles with warm water and leave to
soften, about 10 minutes. Drain.

3. In a small frying pan, toast the sesame seeds over moderate heat,
stirring frequently, until light brown, about 3 minutes. Or toast them in a
350ø oven for 15 minutes.

4. In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the rice noodles until
just done, about 3 minutes. Drain.

5. Heat the broiler. Drain the fish and discard the marinade. Put the fish
on a baking sheet and broil until the fish is just cooked through, about 5
minutes.

6. Meanwhile, in a medium pot, combine the remaining One fourth cup soy sauce,
2One half tablespoons mirin, 1One half teaspoons sugar, One fourth teaspoon ginger, 1/4
teaspoon garlic, the Chicken Stock, ricewine vinegar and sesame oil. Bring
to a boil over moderately high heat. Add the carrot, leek and mushrooms and
simmer for 1 minute. Add the cooked noodles, the spinach and two thirds of
the shiso leaves. Simmer for 30 seconds longer.

7. Transfer the noodles and vegetables to plates. Pour on the broth and top
with the fish. Sprinkle the fish with the toasted sesame seeds, the
remaining shiso leaves and the chives.

Chilean sea bass has a very different texture from that of other fish. Even
when it is cooked to welldone, the fish remains soft. Since it doesn't
firm up, you'll need to check its temperature to tell whether it's done.
Stab a small bamboo stick into the middle of the fillet. Leave for a
moment, pull it out and touch the end. If it's hot, the fish is ready.

Chilean sea bass is not interchangeable with other bass. If you can't find
it, cod is a closer substitute than a different type of sea bass. In place
of the shiso leaves, you can use basil. Sweet sherry, while not as sweet as
mirin, can be used in its place.

A dry gew=FCrztraminer or riesling from the Napa Valley or Alsace has
almost the same balance of sweetness and acidity as the sake, and
complements the ginger and shiso.
Posted to MMRecipes Digest by Julie Bertholf jewel1@ix.netcom.com on
Mar 23, 1998