Ao Saba

Saba (Mackerel), Juniper, Onion, Huckleberry Boshi

Courtesy of chef Tyson Cole from Uchi: The Cookbook

Mackerel is something I fell in love with when I learned how to eat sushi. It’s probably the first or sixth phase of sushi when learning to appreciate this cuisine. Once you’re to the sashimi stage, you’re on to the “trying other fish” stage. Mackerel is usually fishy and sometimes fatty. It’s definitely an acquired taste. The sauce has fresh huckleberries that are macerated after they’ve been cured with salt. It was entirely Paul Qui’s idea to create this boshi, and it is amazing with this fish. The idea was to really push the flavor here and create the concept of umami. It makes something that wouldn’t be as accessible before much more approachable.

- 4 oz blue foot mushroom

- 6 oz white vinegar

- 6 oz sugar

- 12 oz water

Huckleberry Gastrique

- 4 oz huckleberry

- 3.5 oz sugar

- 4.5 oz water

- ½ oz yukari

Saba Shime

- 4 oz saba fillet

- 4 oz salt

- 8 oz rice wine vinegar

- 2.5 oz dried kombu

Toasted Juniper

- 2 oz dried juniper berry

Garnish

Borage Blossoms

Directions

Blue Foot Mushrooms

1) Combine all ingredients into a medium sauce pot and bring to a boil to dissolve sugar. 

2) Place quartered or halved mushrooms in hot liquid. 

3) Remove from heat and allow to cool.

4) Reserve for grilling.

5) Before serving, sear the mushrooms on the hot part of a grill to lightly char.

Huckleberry Gastrique

1) Combine water, yukari, and sugar in a small sauce pot.

2) Mix well and bring all of the ingredients to a boil, simmer until the liquid coats the back of a spoon.

3) Remove from heat, add the huckleberries and mix well.

4) Adjust the taste with kosher salt if necessary.

5) Let cool to room temperature and reserve until use.

Saba Shime

1) Place the cleaned saba fillet, flesh side down, in salt.

2) The salt should cover the whole flesh side of fish.

3) Let the fillet cure for 30 minutes.

4) Once fillet has cured, remove from the salt and carefully rinse off the salt with cold water.

5) You must be very gentle, saba flesh is very fragile.

6) Take the dried kombu and wipe off white sediment with a damp cloth.

7) Place the whole fillet in a container and cover with rice wine vinegar and dried kombu.

8) Soak in the kombu and vinegar mixture for 1 hour.

9) Remove fish from vinegar and place onto clean, lint-free, kitchen towel.

10) With skin-side up, gently peel off outer skin, starting at the belly side of the fish.

11) Score the skin side in a small crisscross pattern and reserve fish in the refrigerator till use.

 

Toasted Juniper

1) Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

2) Place the juniper on a quarter sheet tray and toast in the oven for 10-15 minutes.

3) Crush the juniper with the back of a knife to get a rough crumb.

4) Reserve in an airtight container for use.

 

Ao Saba Assembly

1) On a small rectangular plate, run a line of the huckleberry gastrique down the center of the plate, with two pools at either end. 

2) One should be larger than the other. 

3) Place the grilled, pickled mushrooms off-center near the larger pool of sauce. 

4) Place seared fish on top of mushrooms. 

5) Garnish with borage blossoms and two piles of toasted juniper.

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