Chef's Recipes

Bonito with mojama

Australian Gourmet Traveller recipe for bonito with mojama by James Henry from Paris restaurant Bones.

By James Henry
  • 20 mins preparation
  • 5 mins cooking plus curing, marinating
  • Serves 8
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Bonito with mojama
"I love bonito for this recipe, but you could substitute mackerel or another semi-oily fish, just as long as it's super-fresh," says James Henry. You'll need a blowtorch to achieve the combination of caramelised exterior and rare flesh; it's difficult to replicate this effect with a griller.

Ingredients

  • 75 gm each caster sugar and sea salt (1/3 cup)
  • 1.6 kg bonito, filleted, skinned, pin bones and blood line removed, cut into 10cm lengths
  • 1 Spanish onion, quartered, petals separated
  • 400 ml buttermilk
  • 80 ml ponzu (1/3 cup)
  • mojama (see note), toasted sesame oil and baby wood sorrel leaves (optional), To serve

Method

Main
  • 1
    Combine sugar and salt in a bowl, scatter mixture over both sides of fish and refrigerate to cure for 3 hours.
  • 2
    Blanch onion until just tender (30 seconds), refresh and drain well. Place in a non-reactive container with buttermilk and ponzu and marinate for 1 hour.
  • 3
    Brush cure mixture from fish (discard) and transfer fish to a foil-lined oven tray. Lightly caramelise with a blowtorch and divide among serving plates.
  • 4
    Drain onion (reserve marinade), scatter onto bonito, then finely grate mojama over the top. Drizzle with a little buttermilk marinade and sesame oil, scatter with sorrel leaves and serve.

Notes

Note Mojama, dried cured tuna, is available from Spanish delicatessens.