Braised Semi-Dried Pollock with Soy Sauce(kodari Jorim)

….My husband wants to eat spicy pollock stew unexpectedly! Now, with ingredients that are hard to find, he occasionally craves the memories of the past when he ate it. He really loves roe of pollock when I make fish stew, but these days it’s hard to find it even at Japanese markets. Once, he asked me to pan-fry pink sausages he had when he was young with eggs in lunch box, so I bought the pink sausages that are still being sold at the market and made a dish for him. However, he said, “It doesn’t taste like it used to!” and couldn’t find the nostalgic taste. It seems that the tastes we remember as memories during our lives are based on the standards of that time. As ingredients have become more luxurious now, the ones from the past may already feel below the standard. Today, instead of fresh pollock I bought semi-dried pollock and braised them in soy sauce. Although the taste and appearance are different, I could still enjoy the same flavor of pollock. Perhaps it’s because of the chewy and tender texture, or maybe just looking at it, my appetite was stimulated.

Servings: 4–5

Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

1. 900g-950g (after removing the head) semi-dried pollock, with the head and fins removed, cut into 5 pieces
2. 300 ml anchovy broth
3. 4 tbsp soy sauce
4. 1 tbsp sugar
5. 2 tbsp rice syrup
6. 2 tbsp mirin
7. 2 tbsp sake
8. 1 tbsp garlic, chopped
9. 1 tsp ginger juice
10. 2 tbsp avocado oil
11. 3 jalapeños
12. green onion to taste, cut into 2-inch pieces
13. sesame oil to taste

Cooking Instructions:

1. Heat a pot over medium-high heat and add anchovy broth, soy sauce, sugar, rice syrup, mirin, sake, garlic, ginger juice, avocado oil, and jalapeños to it. Bring it to a boil with a lid on.

2. Start boiling, then add the semi-dried pollock. Once it reaches a boil again, reduce the heat to medium and let it simmer for 20 minutes with the lid on. Remove any floating bubbles with a spoon.

3. After 20 minutes, remove the lid and heat it over medium-high heat to braise the semi-dried pollock until the moisture is gone. Simmer it gently, stirring occasionally.

4. Add the green onion to the pot and simmer for 1–2 minutes. Optionally, add some sesame oil if you’d like.

5. Serve it as a side dish.

You can also view this recipe on Instagram.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C3QF_JZL-aS/?img_index=3