Akemi Yokoyama
I’ve been enjoying featuring recipes from cookbooks old and new over the last six months and introducing you to some wonderful chefs along the way. Now, I have the honour of featuring a favourite recipe from a master chef whose only restaurant is her home kitchen in Shepherds Bush. Her name is Akemi Yokoyama and seems to be an ambassador for all things Japanese. The dish is Cured Mackerel Sushi Rolls. Akemi cooked this dish at Bread and Flowers HQ back in November. I’m now addicted to this recipe. Having visited Japan many times, I have to say that their culture is extraordinary and their detailed, precise approach to food and ingredients is hugely inspiring. I wouldn’t attempt to emulate this recipe but have had a go a couple of times. This dish brings surprise and joy to those you share it with. Akemi is visiting Longford Farmhouse again on March 23 to cook another favourite of mine – pork ramen noodles. Come and join us if you can, Japan doesn’t come to Salisbury very often
Cured Mackerel Sushi Rolls (Serves 4)
Ingredients to cure mackerel
• 4 sushi grade fresh mackerel fillets
• 200ml sushi vinegar
• 200ml rice vinegar
• 3tbsp salt to cure
Ingredients to make sushi
• 8 Shiso leaves, finely chopped
• 2tbsp sushi ginger, finally chopped
• 2tsp white sesame seeds
• 1tsp chilli powder
• 150g sushi rice
• 80ml sushi vinegar
• 3tbsp soy sauce
(You need a blow torch)
Cure the mackerel
1. Ask the fishmonger to cut off the head of the
mackerel just behind the pectoral fin, gut it and
fillet it.
2. Sprinkle salt all over the fillets, use all of the salt.
Rest them on the plate or stainless steel tray to cure
for 1.5 hours in the fridge. Cover with cling film.
3. Mix sushi vinegar and rice vinegar in a
container big enough for the fillets to fit flat and
comfortably. Wash the fillets in fresh water, dry
them with clean cloth or kitchen paper. Submerge
the fillets skin side up in the vinegar mix and cure
for 2 hours
4. Remove the fillets from the vinegar mix, wipe
dry with clean cloth or kitchen paper.
5. Place the fillets on the chopping board skin side
down, carefully remove the bones in the middle of
the fillet with tweezers. Place the fillet skin side up,
peel off the transparent skin on the surface of the
fish, start peeling from the head side. Repeat the
process for another fillets.
6. Trim any fins and remove any trace of the bones
Cook sushi rice
1. Cook sushi rice. Wash rice thoroughly with a
little water in a sauce pan. Rinse with fresh running
water several times until the water becomes clean.
Move the rice in a sieve, strain the water. Cook
over a medium heat with lid on to bring to a boil,
simmer for 15 minutes at low heat. Rest with the
lid on for 10 minutes.
2. While the rice is still very hot, scatter the rice
in a large bowl or tray. Sprinkle the sushi vinegar
over the cooked rice, as evenly as possible. Try
to separate the rice grains and to distribute the
vinegar evenly by moving the silicon spatula or
wooden spoon diagonally, as if you are slicing the
rice. Use a fan to cool down the rice as quickly as
possible which helps to maintain the glossy shine
on the rice.
3. When the rice is slightly cooler and you don’t
feel the heat when you touch it, you are ready to
make sushi. Ideal temperature of the rice for sushi
making is human body temperature.
Make sushi
1. In a bowl, mix chopped sushi ginger, chopped
shiso leave and sesame seeds with the sushi rice.
2. Place the mackerel fillet with the skin side down
on the chopping board. Spread quarter of the rice
mix on top of the fillet, as evenly as possible.
3. Wrap the mackerel fillet with the rice mix in
a clingfilm as tightly as possible, both ends tied
tightly. It should look that the rice is encapsulated
in the mackerel. Repeat the process for the other
fillets. Keep them in the fridge at least for a couple
of hours.
Cutting and blow torching
1. Remove the clingfilm, cut the mackerel sushi
into 6 equal pieces. Make some decorative
incisions on the surface of the mackerel.
2. Place the mackerel sushi in an oven tray and
blow torch the top until the surface starts bubbling
and turns brown.
3. Drizzle some soy sauce over the mackerel,
sprinkle chilli powder to serve immediately