Sanma Shioyaki — Pacific Saury and Autumn Grilling

Ingredients

• 4 (150–200 g each) Pacific saury (sanma), whole, ungutted, at peak autumn season — skin darkly iridescent, flesh firm
• 2 tsp fine sea salt, for heavy, even application inside and out — more than instinct suggests
• To serve
• 200 g daikon, finely grated (oroshi)
• 4 sudachi or kabosu, halved
• 4 tsp soy sauce, served alongside for dipping

Method

1. 1
   Score each whole sanma lightly on both sides in a crosshatch pattern — this allows fat to render freely through the skin and increases the crisped surface area. Salt the fish generously inside and out, ensuring the salt penetrates rather than merely coats the exterior. Rest uncovered for 20 minutes. Pat the surface completely dry; any residual moisture will steam the skin rather than char it. The fish is ready to grill when its surface is visibly dry to the touch.
2. 2
   Prepare a binchotan charcoal fire to medium-high heat. Position the grill grate so that rendered fat can drip onto the coals and generate smoke without causing flare-ups — this fat-smoke interaction is a central and intended feature of the dish, not a problem to be avoided. This calibration is where the dish lives or dies: too close and the belly fat ignites; too far and the skin will not blister. The coals are ready when they glow steadily without visible flame.
3. 3
   Lay the whole fish on the grate. Grill approximately 5–7 minutes per side over medium-high charcoal, depending on fish size. Do not move the fish before the skin releases cleanly from the grate. The first side is done when the skin is blistered, lightly charred at the scored lines, and the flesh has turned opaque to the lateral line.
4. 4
   Turn once and grill the second side for 5–7 minutes. The fish is cooked through when the flesh at the thickest point — just behind the head — separates cleanly from the spine under light pressure and the rendered fat has crisped the belly skin to a thin, faintly charred shell. The smell of the smoke rising from the fat drip is the signal that the rendering is proceeding correctly.
5. 5
   Transfer the whole fish immediately to individual plates. Set a small mound of grated daikon and two sudachi or kabosu halves alongside each fish. Bring soy sauce to the table separately. The fish is served whole — head, fins, and intestines intact. Squeeze the citrus directly over the fish at the table; the fragrance released by the heat of the fish is integral to the eating experience. The intestines are eaten as a bitter counterpoint to the fat: they are not a by-product to be set aside.