Tai Meshi
- 1½ cups Japanese
short-grain rice - One 5-inch square
kombu (dried kelp) - 1 whole small sea
bream, red snapper,
or porgy (about 1 lb),
cleaned and scaled - 2 tsp kosher salt
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp sake
- 1 Tbsp mirin
- 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 Tbsp roasted
sesame seeds - 2 negi (Japanese green
onions) or 4 scallions,
sliced very thin on the
bias (about ½ cup)
- Place rinsed rice into
a large (3- to 4-quart)
donabe or Dutch oven.
Add the kombu and 1 ¾
cups of water to the pot.
Soak for 30 minutes. - Meanwhile, prep the
fish. Cut five ½-inch-
deep diagonal slits into
each side of the fish. Rub
the salt into the slits and
the cavity. - Remove and discard
the kombu. Stir in the
soy sauce, sake, and
mirin and allow the rice
to soak for 20 more
minutes. - Heat a large nonstick
pan over high heat, then
coat with the vegetable
oil. Once the oil is shim-
mering, add the fish and
sear on both sides; 2 to
3 minutes per side should
be enough to give the skin
some color and the fish
a head start on cooking.
Remove from the heat.- Place the seared fish
on top of the rice and
set the pot over high
heat. If the fish is too big
to lie flat, curl the tail
end up around the edge
of the pot, or cut off the
head and set it on top of
the rice next to the body.
Bring the rice to a sim-
mer, then drop the heat
as low as it will go, cover
the pot, and cook for 14
minutes. Shut off the
heat and allow to stand,
covered, for 10 minutes. - Uncover the pot and
give your diners a peek at
what’s inside. Then care-
fully remove the fish and
add the sesame seeds
and negi or scallions to
the pot. Use a fork or
chopsticks to fluff and
mix the rice. Cover again
while you pick the meat
from the fish. Stir the
fish into the rice and
serve immediately, with
a dish of sea salt and
another of shichimi
togarashi on the side.
Embrace the
WHOLE FISH
BONUS POINTS FOR ’GRAM-ABILITY- • • Ivan Orkin’s The Gaijin Cookbook:
Japanese Recipes from a Chef, Father,
Eater, and Lifelong Outsider, could be seen
as an epic love poem (with recipes) to the
country that changed the self-described
ramen junkie’s life: Japan. This aromatic
dish from The Gaijin Cookbook is a reflec-
tion of the Japanese customs you’d encoun-
ter in his home. It is called tai meshi. Es-
sentially, you sear fish, transfer it to a pot
of rice, and cook them together so that they
bond into a party-bowl manifestation ofunited deliciousness. You can use fillets,
sure, but cooking things on the bone is al-
ways better, Orkin advises. “You get more
flavor seeping into your liquid,” he says.
Important step: Try to use a donabe, a tra-
ditional Japanese ceramic vessel, and leave
the lid on until the moment you’re ready
to reveal the dish to your guests. They’ll
relish the scent and grab their phones to
snap a picture. —J. G.BRING BACKG A ME NIGHT
IT’S NOT JUST FOR D&D NERDSOnce every month, four friends and I gather at
one person’s apartment, only to stumble home
silly, sloshed, and maybe even triumphant
come 2:00 A.M. We call this: game night.
You may say, “Game nights are for hardcore
gamers—I’m not a hardcore gamer.” Neither
am I. Whether you’re a D&D fanatic, a charades
maven, or the laid-back type who enjoys casual,
punchy games like Cards Against Humanity,
game night can be whatever you want it
to be. In modern life, there aren’t enoughopportunities to indulge your inner child.
Even when our conversations turn to politics
or other discontents, we always end the night
breathless with laughter.Donner Dinner Party ($15): Good for calling
out your friends for lying. You’ll have to suss out
who among you is the secret cannibal trying to
eat the hapless pioneers.($30): A sidesplitting
game that asks you to
caption popular memes
like “cat on chair” and
“disaster girl.”
—Adrienne WestenfeldIllustrations: Naya-Cheyenne October 2019_Esquire 61