It's a delicate, fatty fish, sustainably fished, filled with good Omega-3s, and absolutely delicious.
The fillets are simmered in a Japanese-style broth of sake, soy sauce, rice vinegar, oil, and ginger. While the fillets are cooking, you spoon the simmering sauce over the top of the fillets so that the top gets infused with the sauce as well. The fillets are then topped with toasted sesame seeds and thinly sliced green onions.
Ingredients
1 to 1 1/2 pounds black cod fillets, skin on or skinless
1/4 cup sake
1/4 cup canola, rice bran or other neutral oil
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp minced fresh ginger
Dark sesame oil, for garnish
3 green onions, thinly sliced on the diagonal, for garnish
Prepare sauce: In a large sauté pan, mix the sake, rice vinegar, canola oil, soy sauce and ginger. Bring to a simmer on medium to medium high heat.
Simmer fish in sauce: Lay each fillet in the pan. (If using skin-on fillets, place the fillets skin-side down in the pan.) Use a spoon to baste the tops of each fillet until you see the flakes of the fish separate a little, which should take about 30 seconds to 1 minute per fillet.
Let the fish simmer for 3-6 minutes, depending on how thick they are. Estimate 3 minutes for a 1/4 inch-thick fillet, up to 6 minutes for an inch-thick fillet.
Gently move the fish to individual plates. If you want, use (clean) needle-nosed pliers or tweezers to remove the pin bones in the fillets.
Reduce sauce: Increase the heat on the sauce and boil vigorously for 1 minute, stirring constantly to reduce the sauce.
Serve: Spoon a tablespoon or more of the sauce over each fillet and discard the rest. Drizzle a little bit of sesame oil over each fillet, then garnish with the green onions and toasted sesame seeds.Serve immediately.
