Petoraaru karei no yuanyaki / grilled yuan-marinated petrale sole

This is one of my favorite ways to eat white-fleshed fresh fish. The marinade is a simple mixture of soy sauce, mirin and sake in equal parts, which gives the fish a slightly salty sweet note. It is very good with somewhat fatty or sweet fish as well as sea scallops.

1/2 of recipe (fish only, no condiment included):
112 calories; 19.6 g protein; 1.2 g fat; 7.3 g carbohydrate; 2.7 g net carbs; 210 mg sodium (with 50% reduced-sodium soy sauce); 44 mg cholesterol; 0 g fiber; 177 mg potassium


<Ingredients>

Approx. 200 g petrale sole (203 g in photo)

For yuan marinade
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp sake

<Directions>
1.

In a container, mix soy sauce, mirin and sake.

Marinate sole for about 30 minutes. 

Flip once halfway through for even marinating.
(Remove fish from marinade after 30 minutes, especially if fillets are on the thinner side, to prevent overflavoring, and save marinade separately).

2.

Grill fish.

3.

Meanwhile, simmer or microwave marinade to reduce it somewhat.

Brush with reduced marinade a few times while grilling.

<Notes>

• Fish can be sauteed with or without oil. No-oil sauteing can be done by using parchment paper as a liner; wipe off excess moisture coming from fish during cooking. With or without oil, when fish is basically done, add some marinade for stronger flavoring (reducing marinade in advance is not needed when sauteing).
• Citrus, especially yuzu citron (slices if available, or juice), is a common addition to the marinade.
• Cooked fish stays relatively soft, making this a perfect choice for bento.
• Using the freshest fish possible is the key. The marinade is too light to mask any decline in quality of not so fresh or previously frozen fish.
• The above nutrition figures are based on assumption that 60% of marinade is consumed. Nutritional data for petrale sole are from FishChoice and Pure Food Seafood Market.
• In the top photo, the petrale sole is accompanied by celery mixed with a tiny amount of umeboshi pickled plum, akajiso red perilla, sake and mirin. The leaf underneath is from myoga ginger.