Standard Shime Saba (Pickled Mackerel)

  1. Remove the guts, gills, and head (see photo).
  2. Very fresh mackerel still has scales, so remove them too.
  3. Filet the fish and remove the backbone.
  4. Be as thorough as possible in removing any fine bones using fish bone tweezers.
  5. You could also remove the fine bones just before eating, if you prefer.
  6. If you remove the bones while you're slicing the fish to serve, the fish will be easier to eat.
  7. Salt the fish with a generous amount of natural salt.
  8. Arrange the fillets in a single layer on a tray or plate, and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.
  9. If you chill for for too long, the flesh will become tough.
  10. If moisture is produced from the fish as shown in the Step 4 photo, that's good!
  11. Leave the tray or plate tilted slightly, so that he fish won't be sitting in the liquid that is produced, making it tastier (see photo).
  12. Rinse the salt from the mackerel.
  13. You could use plain water, but rinsing with sake or vinegar is the real way to do it!
  14. But in fact, this might not change the flavor much!
  15. When the salt is rinsed off, be sure to thoroughly blot the fish dry (this part is critical).
  16. Put 300 ml vinegar, 100 ml mirin and 5 teaspoons sugar in a freezer bag and dissolve well.
  17. Add the mackerel from Step 5 to the bag, and let marinate for 5-15 hours.
  18. The key is to eliminate as much air as possible from the bag.
  19. If you aren't going to eat the fish right away, remove it from the marinade, wrap it in plastic wrap; it should keep for 2 days in the refrigerator!
  20. To eat, peel off the skin starting from the head side.
  21. Do this carefully so that you don't rip the flesh!
  22. You can do this easily with your bare hands.
  23. Cut or slice as you like!

fresh mackerel, salt, vinegar, mirin, sugar

Taken from cookpad.com/us/recipes/140639-standard-shime-saba-pickled-mackerel (may not work)

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