Many Japanese cooks treasure dark, oily, full-flavored fish and treat it with a simple dose of powerful seasonings and a simple cooking technique that might be called “pan-steaming.” If you think you don’t like mackerel, try it this way; it may change your mind. Serve this with short-grain white rice (page 507).

　　

Ingredients

2 to 4 servings

　　1/2 cup soy sauce

　　1/3 cup sake or dry sherry

　　1 tablespoon sugar

　　2 tablespoons rice or white wine vinegar

　　5 or 6 thin slices peeled fresh ginger

　　3 or 4 garlic cloves, crushed

　　4 mackerel fillets, about 1 pound total, skin on

　　Finely grated peeled fresh ginger or lemon zest for garnish

　　

Step 1

In a 12-inch skillet with a lid, mix together all the ingredients except the fish and garnish. Add 1/2 cup water, bring to a boil, and simmer over medium heat for about 5 minutes, uncovered.

　　

Step 2

Add the fish, skin side down, cover, and simmer until the fish is cooked through (the smallest fillet should just flake when prodded with a fork or knife, and the fish should all be opaque), 7 to 10 minutes. Spoon a fillet and some sauce onto a mound of white rice; garnish and serve.

　　The Best Recipes in the World by Mark Bittman. © 2005 by Mark Bittman. Published by Broadway Books. All Rights Reserved.MARK BITTMAN is the author of the blockbuster The Best Recipes in the World (Broadway, 2005) and the classic bestseller How to Cook Everything, which has sold more than one million copies. He is also the coauthor, with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, of Simple to Spectacular and Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef. Mr. Bittman is a prolific writer, makes frequent appearances on radio and television, and is the host of The Best Recipes in the World, a 13-part series on public television. He lives in New York and Connecticut.