2000s Recipes + Menus
Black Cod with Mushrooms and Sansho Pepper
Serves6
- Active time:15 min
- Start to finish:30 min
May 2008
Visually, this dish speaks softly, but it combines quite a number of sensations: a buttery fish, sautéed for a crisp skin, and a broth of such depth you’ll never believe it was simmered for just five minutes. The mixture of enoki and shimeji mushrooms looks gorgeous and lends a meatiness, punctuated by an elusive woodsy smokiness, to the sansho-flecked broth.
For broth
- 1 cup water
- 6 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons mirin (Japanese sweet rice wine)
- 1/8 teaspoon ground sansho pepper (sometimes labeled “sansyo”), plus additional for sprinkling, or 1 teaspoon whole Sichuan peppercorns
- 1 shallot, sliced
- 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced, divided
- 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
- 7 oz fresh enoki mushrooms, cut into 3-inch lengths and spongy base discarded
- 5 oz fresh shimeji mushrooms (sometimes called beech mushrooms), spongy base discarded
For fish
- 6 (6-oz) pieces black cod fillet with skin
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
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Garnish:
thinly sliced scallion greens
Make broth:
-
Bring water, soy sauce, mirin, sansho pepper, shallot, and one third of garlic to a boil in a 1- to 2-quart heavy saucepan, then simmer 5 minutes. Let broth stand off heat 10 minutes.
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Cook remaining garlic in oil in a 10-inch heavy skillet over medium heat, stirring, until just golden. Add all mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 3 minutes.
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Strain broth through a fine-mesh sieve into mushroom mixture, discarding solids, and simmer 1 minute.
Sauté fish:
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Pat fish dry and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until hot, then sauté fish, skin side down, turning once, until golden brown, just starting to flake, and just cooked through, about 10 minutes.
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Transfer fish to shallow bowls. Reheat broth and divide among bowls, then sprinkle very lightly with more sansho pepper (if using).
Cooks’ note: Broth can be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered (once cool). Gently reheat before using.
- Keywords
- maggie ruggiero,
- japanese,
- seafood,
- asian
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