Sansho no nikomi – Sansho peppercorn fish stew

Another easy Japanese recipe of this season. Nikomi is a stew. Sansho is Japan’s species of Sichuan pepper. It’s the season for the green peppercorns. Actually, you can do a version of this recipe using “sansho no tsukudani” sold in jars instead of the fresh product.

Take fish… sorry, they have no name. Oh, I forgot the Japanese one, I’m not sure I’ll hear it again. White flesh local seafish. Clean them, take off the scales, the heads, the inside. Cut them in a few chunks.

Sauce : 1/4th low-sodium soy sauce, 1/4 mirin, 1/4 sake, 1/4. Depending the quantity of fish and size of the pan, you need more or less. The sauce should arrive at half the height of the pieces of fish.

Rinse 2 leaves of kombu seaweeds. Add them to the sauce. Simmer 5 minutes.

Add the fish, a fistfull of fresh sansho peppercorns. Cover.

Simmer on low heat 10 minutes, return the fish. Cover. A few more minutes.

Diluate 1 tbs of cornstarch in a little water, add it to the sauce. Bring it to a boil.

Then, you can take off the fish, and let the sauce reduce 10 minutes, reheat the fish. Or serve with only 1/2 of the more liquid sauce.

from foodbuzz.com