Pacific saury, a quintessential taste of Japanese autumn, is used to create a rice dish with a Western-style seasoning. The saury is seared with a torch, and the addition of mirin and salted rice malt (shio koji) enhances the umami, making broth unnecessary. The complementary flavors of 'saury and ginger,' 'ginger and lemon,' and 'lemon and shio koji' come together harmoniously, creating a well-balanced dish.

Ingredients

• Pacific saury 2 fish
• Rice 1.5 cups
• Water 300ml
• Salted rice malt (shio koji) 1 tablespoon
• Ginger 30g
• Lemon 1
• Mirin 2 tablespoons
• Scallions (hime negi) To taste

How to make it

1. Fillet the pacific saury into three pieces and sprinkle with salt.
2. Torch the filleted saury until it is well-seared and has a nice char.
3. In a HEGE (rice cooker or pot), add rice, water, mirin, salted rice malt (shio koji), julienned ginger, half-moon slices of lemon, and the seared saury. Start cooking on medium heat.
4. Once it comes to a boil, reduce to low heat and cook for another 10 minutes.
5. Turn off the heat and let it steam for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with scallions (hime negi) before serving.