Monday Dinner: Mackerel cooked with miso

Tonight, I cooked Spanish mackerel with miso. It's a popular Japanese dish called, saba no miso ni. I think the key to making this dish well is putting a lot of ginger at the right timing.

Mackerel cooked with miso (for 2 people):
Spanish mackerel (1 fillet cut into 2 pieces) - You can usually find Spanish mackerel at an Asian store
Julienned ginger (about 1/4 cup)
Konbu seaweed (about 2 inch piece)
Cooking wine (2 Tbsp)
Water (3/4 cup)
Sugar (2 Tbsp)
Miso (2 Tbsp)

Cut parchment paper into a circle of the size of your deep pan. Make a small hole in the center.
1. Make two incisions forming a cross on the skin of the fish.
2. Boil water and cooking wine with konbu in a deep pan. Once it boils, put fish pieces in with the skin side up.
3. Once the edges of the fish start to get white, put gingers in. When it boils, turn the heat down to medium-low and skim off any foam on the soup. Add sugar and put the parchment paper in. Push down the paper as deep as it can. It should be touching both the soup and fish. This helps the fish get cooked evenly without submerging it in soup. Cook for 8 minutes.
4. In a small bowl, combine miso and some of the soup , and thin out the miso. Add the mixture into the pan. Cook for 7 minutes, putting soup over the fish with a spoon every minute or so. Once the soup reduces, throw away the parchment paper. Cook until the sauce thickens.

It was actually little sweeter than I hoped. Perhaps, only 1 or 1.5 Tbsp of sugar is needed.

On the side, I served broiled daikon radish, broiled beet leaves with sesame sauce, and rice. It's one of those dinners that makes you feel so healthy after eating.

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