Simmered Radish and Smoked Mackerel with Rice
Staying in, an end-of-year feast, and setting the tone for the year ahead.
I hope everyone has had some proper relaxation over the last few days. I was about to wish you all a happy New Year but it's probably a bit unlucky to do this when there's still four more days to go, so I'll hold off until Wednesday.
With food, though, there’s never really bad timing. Only a more or less fitting time for a particular meal. It is complicated, though, because it is all terribly personal (Cereal for breakfast? Or chopped salad? Croissant and coffee? Or rice?).
I’m never sure what people want to eat to welcome this new dawn. Is it something light and cleansing, or is it a hefty feast to forget all sorrows?
Luck is definitely a consideration for some. Whether celebrating the Gregorian or Lunar New Year, there’s often a dish—or a series of dishes—meant to bring luck and joy. In the American South, black-eyed peas and pork are staples for good fortune. In Spain you might eat twelve grapes as the clock strikes midnight, one for each chime, one for each month of the year. If you miss one, you may be in for a tricky month.
None of that really hits home for me - I am superstitiously unsuperstitious - so I’ll be having some old friends over (some with kids, some without) for a slow-cooked leg of lamb. Sticky and sweet and stuffed into steamed buns (which you can swap for rice if you find them intimidating.) It’s a dish that takes hours but asks very little of you. I give it heat and let the thyme and time work their magic.
The days following New Year bring a welcome quiet. Time to reflect, reset, perhaps indulge in small comforts. For me, that often means food—not loud or exuberant, but soothing.
The idea for this week’s recipe came loosely from Toshikoshi soba (or ‘year-crossing’ noodles), a dish eaten in Japan to welcome the new year. My colleague Milli, who has Japanese heritage, celebrates the new year with these noodles. The soba is a symbol of letting go of the hardships of the past year, easily cut and washed away with each bite. The dish itself is a simple bowl of soba noodles, served in a lightly seasoned dashi broth, to which you add your choice of toppings–prawn tempura, smoked tofu, wakame–whatever you like.
Milli always adds pumpkin, which is often eaten during the winter solstice–called Toji–to promote health and warmth during the cold months.
She calls it a comfortable and soft dish, like a “well-worn jumper”.
Milli hasn’t been eating soba her whole life but was converted after a few mesmerising moments at a store window in Japan, where soba was being freshly made (Side note: while in a Japanese Youtube spiral, I also found another must watch…look at that cabbage!).
Setting the tone for the year ahead
I wanted to create a dish to offer a similar sense of balance and satisfaction: warming, yet fresh, comforting but not overwhelming: simmered daikon and smoked mackerel on a bed of simple steamed rice.
Daikon (a Japanese radish) is braised in sake, mirin, soy, and ginger, absorbing all those aromatic flavours. The smoked mackerel adds a deep smokiness, balancing the mild sweetness of the daikon. A combination both delicate and satisfying. To freshen things up, I serve it with a sprinkling of fresh spring onions dressed in rice wine vinegar. And of course, some hot steamed rice to tie it all together.
If you’re shopping in an Asian supermarket, you might find daikon labelled as mooli or Japanese radish, but most larger stores will have it too.
When preparing the daikon, although I say so in the recipe, there’s no need to trim away its sharp edges with a peeler—unless, of course, you find the process as soothing as I do.
The whole thing comes together in just over an hour, making it an ideal choice for a quiet evening at home.
Nimono
The technique we’re using here is a variation of nimono, a Japanese style of cooking where seasonal vegetables and proteins are simmered in a shiru stock (usually seasoned with sugar, sake, mirin, and soy sauce). In Japan, you might find nimono made with kabocha squash in the autumn or bamboo shoots in the spring. It’s wholesome, nourishing, and always served with rice.
The rice
The rice here helps to neutralise the slightly sulphurous scent of the daikon, allowing you to enjoy its delicate flavour without distraction. Rice’s subtle starchiness also creates the perfect base to carry the braised daikon radish and smoky mackerel.
If you’re looking for more advice on cooking Japanese rice, let Yuki Gomi talk you through.
Simmered radish and smoked mackerel with rice
Serves 4
Prep time 15 minutes
Cook time 1 hour 10 minutes