Orange Marinated Saury Pike ala Chef Waka. Photo by Yoko Morihiro

Saury pikes (sanma) are in season. Chef Seiji “Waka” Wakabayashi at the popular French fusion restaurant bushi tei in San Francisco’s Japantown introduces a marinated saury pike dish with refreshing orange flavor.

Ingredients (serves four)
Saury pike..................................4
Orange........................................2
Good quality salt................3 tbsp
Pepper...............................1/2 tsp
Olive oil.............................2 tbsp
French mustard..................1 tbsp
Zucchini.....................................1
Carrot......................................1/2
Red onion................................1/4
Red bell pepper.......................1/2
Ginger...................................2 oz

(1) Thinly slice all the vegetables. Soak them in water briefly to make them crispy, take out and dry with paper towel.

(2) Fillet the fish while removing the bones. Salt and pepper both sides of fillets and leave them on the side for an hour.

(3) Peel the oranges and squeeze the juice. Marinate the fish in the fresh juice for an hour.

(4) Thinly slice the orange peels and mix with the vegetables.

(5) Take out the fish, dry with a paper towel and peel the skin off. Cut into bite-size pieces and place them nicely on plates.

(6) Brush French mustard on each piece of the fish, using the bottom of a spoon. Place the vegetable mix on the top and sprinkle olive oil, salt and pepper before serving.

Points!

- To peel the thin skin off the fish, hold the fillet tightly with one hand and pull the skin from the head with the other.

- The same technique can be used to remove bones. Hold the fillet and take off the bones from the head side.