Like Japan, Korea makes good use of fermented beans, in the form of soy sauce and the terrific chilibean paste known as go chu jang (page 591). If you cannot find that, use the Sesame-Chile Paste on page 591 or hoisin, spiked with a couple of pinches of cayenne or dried red chile flakes, but don’t make the dish too hot—it should be predominantly sweet, sticky, and spicy. Serve with white rice, preferably short grain (page 507), and a salad or vegetable.

　　

Ingredients

4 servings

　　1 tablespoon go chu jang (see headnote) or 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce mixed with about 1/2 teaspoon cayenne or hot red pepper flakes

　　2 tablespoons soy sauce

　　1 tablespoon mirin or sugar

　　1 tablespoon minced garlic

　　1 tablespoon dark sesame oil

　　4 fillets of mackerel or bluefish, preferably with skin on, or 2 swordfish steaks, a total of 1 1/2 to 2 pounds

　　Toasted sesame seeds (page 596) for garnish

　　Minced scallion, green part only, for garnish

　　

Step 1

Preheat the broiler; adjust the rack so that it is about 4 inches from the heat source. (These can also be grilled, but you’ll need a basket, because they’ll stick if grilled directly on the grate.) Combine the go chu jang, soy sauce, mirin, garlic, and sesame oil and rub this mixture all over the fish, but primarily on the flesh side. Place skin side down in a broiling pan, preferably nonstick or lined with lightly oiled foil (you can use more sesame oil for this).

　　

Step 2

Broil until the top is brown and bubbly, less than 10 minutes. If the fish is not cooked through (a thin-bladed knife will pierce its thickest part easily), move it to the oven for a couple of minutes or lower the broiling rack a couple of inches. Serve immediately, garnished with the sesame seeds and scallion.

　　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.