Nizakana with Japanese-Style Pumpkin

 

Nizakana is literally boiled fish. It is fish boiled in a flavoured broth. This recipe is a boiled version of teriyaki fish. It is very easy to make, and makes a quick easy meal with the rice and pumpkin. A side salad and miso soup could be added.

Nizakana served on a Mashikoyaki plate on aizome indigo-dyed cloth

 

500g (1 lb) white meat fish fillets with or without skin

½ cup water

¼ cup soy sauce

 ¼ cup sake mirin*

2 tablespoons sugar

Place water, soy sauce, mirin and sugar into a frying pan. Bring to the boil and stir to dissolve sugar. Add fish fillets in a single layer (skin side up), cook for 5 minutes on medium high. Use a drop lid (if you have one) or piece of foil to with a hole in the centre, to ensure fish stay submerged in the liquid, or press down with a fish slice. Reduce heat as cooking juices decreases and spoon juices over the fish.

Arrange the fish with sauce on individual plates to serve in true Japanese style, or with rice and a vegetable on the same plate as I have done. I used a little furikaki, rice seasoning to sprinkle over the rice, seasame seeds could also be used.

Note: in Japan the rice, fish and pumpkin would all be served on separate plates. I added the parsley for the photo, but it is not traditional in this recipe. 

*mirin is a sweet Japanese rice wine that is used in cooking, it can be omitted from this recipe and replaced with a little more sugar.

There are many variations of what exactly is in the cooking liquid for nizakana, so feel free to adjust to taste, with more of less of the various flavours. Freshly grated ginger can be added.
 

Japanese-Style Pumpkin

close up of the Japanese-Style pumpkin

500g (1 lb) pumpkin, peeled seeded and cut into 3cm (1¼ in) cubes.

3 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons butter (optional)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon soy sauce

Place pumpkin in base of a large saucepan and just cover with water. Bring to the boil and boil for a few minutes then gradually reduce the heat as the pumpkin cooks and softens. Cook until most of the liquid is absorbed.



Pumpkin served as a side dish

Mashikoyaki  is earthy looking pottery from Mashiko, a pottery town near Tokyo.