Tai-meshi (Ehime Sea Bream Rice)
Cuisine: Japanese
Region: 愛媛県
Servings: 4人分
Tai-meshi (Ehime Sea Bream Rice) is a home-style staple dish. Ingredients and step-by-step instructions are below, with notes for home cooking.
Ingredients
- Rice 2 cups (400 ml)
- Sea bream (1 small whole fish, or skin-on fillets) 200–300 g
- Dashi kombu 10 cm
- Light soy sauce (usukuchi) 2 tbsp
- Sake 1 tbsp
- Salt 1/2 tsp
- Water or dashi 2 1/5 cups (440 ml)
- Kinome (sansho leaves) or mitsuba, to taste (optional)
Steps
- Wash the rice, drain it and let it stand for about 30 minutes so the grains absorb water right to the core.
- Scale the sea bream by running the back of a knife from tail to head, remove the gills and innards, and rinse the blood from the belly cavity under running water. Pat dry and make 2–3 slashes in the skin on each side. Sprinkle lightly with salt (extra), leave for 10 minutes and wipe off the moisture that comes out so no fishy smell remains.
- For extra roasted flavor, lightly brown just the surface under a fish grill (it does not need to cook through).
- Put the rice, light soy sauce, sake, salt and water or dashi in a donabe clay pot (or a rice cooker bowl) and stir gently. Wipe the kombu with a tightly wrung damp cloth, lay it on top of the rice, and place the fish on it.
- In a clay pot, cover and bring to a boil over medium-high heat (about 10 minutes), then reduce to low for 12–13 minutes. Turn off the heat and let it steam, covered, for 10 minutes. In a rice cooker, use the normal setting.
- When the rice is done, lift out the fish and kombu. Remove the skin and bones and flake the flesh, checking with your fingertips for any small bones.
- Return the flaked fish to the rice and fold it in gently with a rice paddle using cutting motions. Serve in bowls with kinome or chopped mitsuba.
Rate this recipe
Notes
Cooking the fish whole, head and tail on, and flaking it after bringing the pot to the table makes a celebration feel truly festive.
If you cannot get a whole fish, 2–3 skin-on fillets also make a very tasty pot.
Pour boiling water over the removed bones and head and season with salt for a simple clear ushio-jiru soup.
The tai-meshi of Nanyo (Uwajima and nearby) is a different dish: raw sea bream sashimi is marinated in a sauce of soy sauce, mirin, egg, sesame and dashi, then poured, sauce and all, over hot rice.
Leftovers can be shaped into small rice balls, wrapped in plastic and frozen (2–3 weeks).
Origin and history
Sea bream has been a favorite fish in Japan since ancient times, and apparent references to it appear in the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki. In Ehime, tai-meshi made with a whole one of this auspicious fish is a classic dish for celebrations.
The Kurushima Strait off Imabari has extremely fast tidal currents, and sea bream raised there are said to have firm, springy flesh. Tai-meshi in the prefecture falls into two broad styles. In Toyo, including Imabari, and in Chuyo, centered on Hojo in Matsuyama, the fish is cooked together with the rice and then flaked and mixed in once it is done.
In Nanyo, including Uwajima, the tradition is instead to marinate sashimi in a sauce and serve it over rice; it is said to have begun as a quick dish fishermen made on boats where using fire was difficult. Today both types can be enjoyed at restaurants across the prefecture and are widely loved as station bento and as ready-made tai-meshi seasoning mixes.