Thread: Saba Sushi (Spanish Mackerel Sushi)

Sushi Saba(mackerel)

Here is our Spanish mac sushi recipe. Evertime I bring home Spanish macs, my wife requires that I make this. Reminds her of home.
We usually put a layer of cooled (room temperature) sushi rice in a square glass dish & then layer the cured mackerel onto it. Then place a similar a sheet of plastic wrap over the fish. Then place a similar size dish over the fish and press it with bag of flour or sugar. Let sit under pressure for about an hour. then remove weight & plastic wrap and cut into sashimi bite-sized pieces and serve.

• 1 large fresh Spanish mackerel - two fillets
• 250 ML Japanese rice vinegar
• 2 tblsp sugar
• salt

1. Remove the little 'left over' bones from fillets with a pair of tweezersor fillet them out.
2. Salt fillets heavily on fleshy side. Leave it set for 3 hours in fridge.
3. Mix vinegar and sugar till sugar is completely dissolved. Wash offsalt from fillets.
4. Put vinegar in a plastic glass container and add the fillets. Make sure not to bendthe parts (the delicate skin will get ruined later). Fish should be totallyimmersed.
5. Put in fridge to marinate for at least 4-8 hours.
6. Carefully dry fillets (take care, skin is now very vulnerable)..Thefish is ready for Sushi.

Use only fresh mackerel. The recipe can also be used for Sashimi. In most Japaneserestaurants the marinating is much shorter (about four hours).

http://tedsrecipes.blogspot.com/2007/01/sushi-saba-mackerel.html

Thanks Carl for digging that recipe out. It sounds good. Have you ever tried it with yellowfin tuna?

love spanish sushi great recipe man!!

Thanks for digging it up Carl. Can't wait to try it.

Originally Posted by Czar

Thanks Carl for digging that recipe out. It sounds good. Have you ever tried it with yellowfin tuna?

We've done sushi with yellowfin, but raw, not "cured". I've also made sushi/sashimi with red porgy, beeliners, ground mullet and whiting. Whiting makes fantastic sashimi.
Trick is to gut & gill the fish and get them into ice right after catching them. Then fillet in a nice clean environment when you get home. Serve with a little soy & wasabi.
O-ishii desu ne!!!!!

Carl, does your wife still have family back in Japan? I would kill for some authentic rice wine to nip on every now and again

Originally Posted by CarlF

We've done sushi with yellowfin, but raw, not "cured". I've also made sushi/sashimi with red porgy, beeliners, ground mullet and whiting. Whiting makes fantastic sashimi.
Trick is to gut & gill the fish and get them into ice right after catching them. Then fillet in a nice clean environment when you get home. Serve with a little soy & wasabi.
O-ishii desu ne!!!!!

The cured version is what I was wondering about. I think it would be good yellowfin. Your right on about proper handling of fish you intend to use for sashimi. I Have not tried whiting or mullet. My favorite fish for sashimi are pacific yellowtail and wahoo with yellowfin tuna not far behind. I've also heard rainbow runners are really good as sashimi. A few times when we were fishing for tuna we cut some into sashimi on the boat. It was good but not as good as when the fish has been properly bled and iced down and allowed to cool.

Originally Posted by Delta_Rods

Carl, does your wife still have family back in Japan? I would kill for some authentic rice wine to nip on every now and again

Yep, her entire family is still there. I haven't been over since 2006, hoping to get to go in a couple of years. Truly amazing, beautiful country. Food is incredible. Very safe and easy place to travel even if you only know a few survival phrases, people are incredibly welcoming & helpful to visitors.

You can actually find some good sake here.
Fresh Market has some pretty good brands as do some other better wine & beer places. Just like wine, each type of sake has different levels of sweetness/dryness as well as alcohol content. Most are best served chilled or room temperature. Very few are best served hot. Try different ones and you will see the difference
My favorite is a sweet, unfiltered one, served cold.
Nigori - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sake - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Czar, never thought to try curing anything but mackerel. I think it would overpower the tuna, but might be worth a try.
If you have someone who is squeamish about raw fish, try quickly searing the outside of the tuna in hot sesame oil, then slice & use for sushi.
You can also make a spicy tuna roll with fresh tuna:
Spicy Tuna Roll

Spicy tuna is a filling made for fusion type sushi rolls.They are made with chopped tuna trimmings and red chili condiments.
Get a block of tuna sashimi or sashimi trimmings.
Dice them into small fine pieces.
Add thinly sliced scallions.
Give it a few more chops, and then transfer to a bowl.
Add a few drops of chili oil and some Japanese mayonnaise.
Mix thoroughly, adjust chili oil and mayonnaise to desired consistency, don't make it too loose.
Spread sushi riceon top of the nori sheet. Sprinkle sesame seed on top of the sushi rice. Placethe tuna mixture lengthwise on the rice. Roll up the bamboo mat, pressingforward to shape the sushi into a cylinder. Press the bamboo mat firmly andremove it from the sushi. Cut the rolled sushi into bite-sized pieces.

Originally Posted by CarlF

Czar, never thought to try curing anything but mackerel. I think it would overpower the tuna, but might be worth a try.
If you have someone who is squeamish about raw fish, try quickly searing the outside of the tuna in hot sesame oil, then slice & use for sushi.
You can also make a spicy tuna roll with fresh tuna:
Spicy Tuna Roll

Spicy tuna is a filling made for fusion type sushi rolls.They are made with chopped tuna trimmings and red chili condiments.
Get a block of tuna sashimi or sashimi trimmings.
Dice them into small fine pieces.
Add thinly sliced scallions.
Give it a few more chops, and then transfer to a bowl.
Add a few drops of chili oil and some Japanese mayonnaise.
Mix thoroughly, adjust chili oil and mayonnaise to desired consistency, don't make it too loose.
Spread sushi riceon top of the nori sheet. Sprinkle sesame seed on top of the sushi rice. Placethe tuna mixture lengthwise on the rice. Roll up the bamboo mat, pressingforward to shape the sushi into a cylinder. Press the bamboo mat firmly andremove it from the sushi. Cut the rolled sushi into bite-sized pieces.

l

Love spicy tuna rolls. Hate making them. I can prepare the fish part of any sushi roll, I just can't get my rolls to look as good as at the sushi bar. After trying to make rolls a few at home I really came to appreciate the skill those sushi chefs have to be able to crank those things out.
Your right about searing the fish a bit to get hesitant people to try it. Unfortunately around my house people being hesitant about eating isn't much of an issue.
If you ever get a chance Carl, a tempura batter recipe would be appreciated. I've tried a few different package mixes from the local Japanese markets with mixed results.
I gotta stop reading these recipe posts. Makes me hungry everytime.
Tom