There’s something quietly magical about citrus. Not the brash, commercial burst of a huge orange or breakfast grapefruit, but the subtler, more intriguing kinds, the sort that live tucked in the shelves of Japanese (super) markets or the ones that I remember falling into my hands from our back garden tree in Yamanashi. The mikan is one of those. Easy to overlook, but never to forget once you’ve tasted it at the right time of year.
Mikan, or satsuma as we call it here in the UK, is perhaps the most accessible of Japan’s many citrus treasures. Sweet, low in acidity, and without seeds, it’s often considered a children’s fruit. But in Japanese cooking, it’s much more than a lunchbox snack. It has a softness that slips easily into savoury dishes, balancing salt and heat with gentle sweetness and a kind of sunlit perfume that can quietly transform a sauce.
The first time I used it in a dressing for sashimi, it felt almost too simple. Just a splash of satsuma juice, some grated ginger, a spoonful of sweet chilli sauce (the kind many of us have at the back of the cupboard), a touch of lime or yuzu if you have it, soy sauce for depth, and a little oil to carry it all. I wrote about it in Sushi at Home in 2013 and at the time it was my take on replacing Yuzu, which was fairly rare and quite pricey here in the UK. The resulting sauce is bright, citrusy, with a teasing warmth. It clings lightly to the fish and wakens everything it touches. a really citrusy punch. You could stop there, and that would be enough. But the beauty of this sauce is what to do with the leftovers.
This is where the second little joy of the recipe emerges. That little jar of citrus-chilli dressing, becomes your new favourite salad dressing. It’s gorgeous over thinly sliced cucumber with a sprinkle of sesame seeds and a handful of shiso leaves (now’s the time to plant these by the way – The Wasabi Co. sells these little shiso plants). I’ve tossed it with cold soba noodles and crisp vegetables in the summer, or spooned it over poached salmon or chicken or grilled vegetables with rice. Perfect for the summer. It’s one of those rare things in cooking: a sauce that doesn’t feel like leftovers, but more like the starting point of something else.
We talk a lot about zero-waste cooking these days, and rightly so. But there’s something particularly satisfying about making a sauce or dressing that doesn’t just use up ingredients but leads you somewhere else. You begin with sashimi, perhaps to impress or to give yourself or someone special a quiet, treat, and end up with a dish for tomorrow that you didn’t quite plan for, but are very glad to have.
If you can’t find mikan or satsumas (they’re usually around from November to February here), a blood orange or a really sweet clementine will do a great job. The point is to aim for something fragrant and soft, not too sharp or dry. Yuzu is the obvious choice if you want to go further into Japanese citrus, its tartness is sharper and more commanding. Try blending the two, if you can. There’s a lot to be said for contrast.
The mizuna in the sashimi recipe is a nice touch, its peppery bite offers contrast to the soft fish and round flavours of the dressing, but rocket or baby spinach will do just as well if mizuna’s hard to find.
What I love most, I think, is that this kind of cooking encourages you to see flavours not as one-off events but asa sequence. A jar of citrus dressing made up quickly one evening, becomes something you return to all week. The memory of the sashimi lingers in the brightness of a noodle salad or in the cool snap of cucumber.
Tai sashimi with mikan chilli sauce and mizuna
Sea-bream sashimi with satsuma chilli sauce and mizuna leaves – Serves 4
This recipe was first published in Sushi at Home by Penguin – 2013
Satsuma, also called a satsuma mandarin, is a very popular citrus fruit in England. We call it mikan in Japanese (Satsuma is the Japanese name of a province of South Japan where they are grown). Satsumas arrived in Western countries hundreds of years ago from the Japanese embassies. I remember the first time I saw satsumas in an English supermarket, I could not believe my eyes and had to buy some immediately to remind me of home.
You can easily skip the sea bream fillets and just make up the dressing to use with ribbons of salad vegetables like carrot, daikon and courgette (like the photo), or cucumber. I love this as a simple salad with cucumber alone, perhaps with a few sesame seeds scattered on top. If you use cucumber, make sure to squeeze out the water.
To prepare the sashimi, ask your fishmonger to do it, or see page 149 of Sushi at Home for the technique. At my Gourmet Sushi & Sashimi Workshops I cover these techniques in detail. Several classic cutting skills for sashimi and sushi are covered in this class. A great way to learn how to enjoy sashimi at home.
Ingredients
-
2 fillets (140–150g each) of fresh, sashimi-quality sea bream, skinned and boned
-
a handful of mizuna, to garnish
For the satsuma chilli sauce
-
1 satsuma or ¼ of an orange
-
2 teaspoons of sweet chilli sauce
-
juice of ½ a lime
-
juice of ½ a lemon or yuzu
-
1½ tablespoons of light soy sauce
-
1cm-long piece of ginger, grated
-
1 tablespoon of peanut or olive oil
To make the sauce, cut the satsuma in half and squeeze the juice into a small bowl or jar, then add the other ingredients and mix well. Leave for 15 minutes, then strain the liquid into a bowl.
Rinse the sea-bream fillet under cold running water and place on a chopping board. Holding the knife at a 20-degree angle, start to slice the fish from one end into 0.5cm-thick bite-size pieces, supporting the fish lightly with the index finger of your other hand. Make sure you cut each slice in one smooth action – do not use a sawing motion or too much force.
Once you have sliced all the fillet, place the sashimi slices into a small bowl of cold water with ice cubes for about 10 minutes. The sashimi will become slightly white in colour. This makes it tastes fresh and gives it a good texture. Drain the fish and pat it dry with paper towels.
Put the mizuna in the centre of a plate, and place the sea-bream sashimi around the mizuna. Serve the sauce on the side, and drizzle it over the fish before eating.
Tips
-
You can try different raw fish or shellfish: salmon, tuna, sea bass and scallop all work well, as does cooked prawn.
-
You can use rocket, baby spinach or cress instead of mizuna.
-
I love to use Cucumber and wakame seaweed salad
