Okinawa Style Coral Trout Recipe (Mībai Māsu-ni)

Okinawa Style Coral Trout Recipe is one of the simplest ways of cooking fish. The flavouring is the simplest and the cooking method is the simplest. The fish is cooked in salted water with sake and a few slices of ginger – no soy sauce, no dashi stock, and no sugar – unlike typical Japanese simmered dishes.

This method of cooking brings out the original flavour of the ingredient, i.e. fish, which is the underlying philosophy of Japanese cooking.

People who are used to spicy and strong flavours might find today’s dish a bit bland, but I hope they can appreciate the flavour of the fish meat cooked in the Okinawan way.

I used coral trout, but you can use other white meat fish such as ocean perch, cod, snapper, etc. I like coral trout because the flesh is firm, flaky, and very white. Oily fish and red-meat fish are not suited for this. The fish also needs to be very fresh.

About Mībai Māsu-ni

Coral Trout is called ‘sujiara’ (スジアラ) in most parts of Japan, but in Okinawa it is called ‘mībai’ (ミーバイ). Coral trout is considered to be one of the three premium fish in Okinawa because the flesh is delicious, and the catch amount is not high.

If you have tried coral trout, you know that it has a superb white flesh – not mushy, not dry, and not oily.

Incidentally, blackspot tuskfish and flame snapper (deep sea long tail red snapper) are the other premium fish. The photo below shows these premium species. From left to right: Coral trout, blackspot tuskfish, flame snapper.

In Okinawan dialect, salt is ‘māsu’ (マース), while in the standard Japanese language it is ‘shio’ (塩). Because coral trout is cooked in salty broth, it is called ‘Mībai Māsu-ni’ in Okinawa, where ‘ni’ means simmered.

The authentic way of cooking Mībai Māsu-ni is using a whole fish, rather than fish fillets. But today I used fish fillets, because it is easier to make, and many people seem to be off put by the eye of the fish looking at you.

Mībai Māsu-ni is said to be invented by Okinawan fisher men. They cooked the freshly caught fish in the sea water on their fishing boat.

The another unique aspect of this dish is that it uses Okinawan sake called ‘awamori’ (泡盛), instead of standard sake or cooking sake.

About Awamori

Awamori is a drinking-sake produced in Okinawa with a high alcohol percentage – typically 30-43%. It is probably not as widely known as normal sake.

Unlike sake, awamori is a distilled alcohol beverage, which is made from indica rice imported from Thailand. From the production process perspective, it is closer to shōchū since shōchū is also a distilled alcohol.

Left: Okinawan sake, awamori. Right: Shōchū.

Awamori has a richer, more mellow aroma and sweet taste than shōchū. The alcohol percentage of shōchū is 20-25%, so awamori is much more alcoholic than shōchū.

Awamori can be a substitute to sake in cooking, but you should use it when the flavour of the dish is strong. Because of the unique aroma, awamori is not suited for delicate flavouring such as clear soup dishes (unless you love the particular aroma of awamori) and chawanmushi.

What’s in My Okinawa Style Coral Trout Recipe (Mībai Māsu-ni)

My coral trout was large, so I sliced a side fillet diagonally. If your side fillet is small, serve a whole side per person.

• Coral trout fillets

Vegetables

Vegetables are not a ‘must’, but tofu is always cooked together with the fish. I added vegetables because it is nice to have some colour added to the dish.

• Sliced carrots
• Spring onions
• Tofu pieces.

Broth

• Water
• Sliced ginger
• Awamori (alternatively shōchū or sake including cooking sake)
• Salt.

Garnish (optional)

• Aonori (not in the photo)

I used aonori because it adds the aroma of the sea to the dish. But even without it, Mībai Māsu-ni tastes delicious. You can also put harishōga as an alternative (see the photo below).

How to Make Okinawa Style Coral Trout Recipe (Mībai Māsu-ni)

1. Make a couple of diagonal incisions on the skin side if you are cooking whole side fillets of the fish. This prevents the fillet from curling.
2. Put all the Broth ingredients into a shallow pot and mix.
3. Place the fish pieces, carrots, tofu, and green onions on the side of the fish in the pot and bring it to a boil.
4. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for 5 minutes with a lid on.
5. Turn the hat off. Transfer the fish, tofu, and vegetables onto the plate, pour a small amount of the broth over.
6. Sprinkle aonori over the fish.

If your fillets are very thin, you will only need to cook for 3-4 minutes with a lid on.

Since I made two servings of Okinawa Style Coral Trout, I kept one serving in the fridge to eat the following day. I reheated it in microwave and it was as delicious as the freshly cooked fish.

This is a super-fast dish to make with a very simple flavouring. You will enjoy the taste of the fish.

Yumiko

5 from 1 vote

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Okinawa Style Coral Trout Recipe (Mībai Māsu-ni)

Prep Time

3 mins

Cook Time

7 mins

Total Time

10 mins

 

Okinawa Style Coral Trout is one of the simplest ways of cooking fish. The flavouring is the simplest and the cooking method is the simplest. The fish is cooked in salted water with Okinawan sake and a few slices of ginger. It brings out the original flavour of the ingredient, i.e. fish.

Don't forget to see the section 'MEAL IDEAS' below the recipe card! It gives you a list of dishes that I have already posted and this recipe that can make up a complete meal. I hope it is of help to you.

Recipe Type: Main

Cuisine: Japanese

Keyword: coral trout recipe, okinawan dish, simmered fish

Serves: 2

Author: Yumiko

Ingredients (tbsp=15ml, cup=250ml)

• 2 coral trout fillets (about 150g/5.3oz each, note 1)

Vegetables (note 2)

• 130-150g/4.6-5.3oz firm tofu (momen tofu) cut into 4 cubes
• 45g/1.6oz carrot diagonally sliced to 5mm/3⁄16" thick pieces
• 45g/1.6oz green onion cut into 5cm/2" long pieces

Broth

• 250ml/8.5fl oz water
• 15g/0.5oz ginger thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp awamori (note 3)
• 1 tsp salt

Garnish (optional)

• Aonori

Instructions

1. If you are cooking side fillet as a whole rather than sliced fillet, make a couple of incisions diagonally on the skin side of the fillets, where the flesh is the thickest (note 4). If you are using fillet pieces like mine, you needn’t to do it.

2. Add the Broth ingredients in a wide and shallow pot or a deep frying pan that can comfortably fit the fillets in. Mix well to partially dilute the salt.

3. Put the fish fillets into the pot, without overlapping. Then place the carrots, tofu pieces, and green onions next to the fillets.

4. Bring the pot to a boil. Place a lid on and reduce the heat to medium.

5. Cook for 5 minutes, then turn the heat off.

6. Transfer the fish fillet to a serving plate, with the vegetables on the side. Pour a few tablespoons of the broth over the fish and vegetables.

7. Sprinkle aonori, if using, in the middle on the fish, drawing a band of green flakes (note 5).

8. Serve immediately.

Recipe Notes

1. My coral trout was large. So, I sliced a side fillet diagonally making two fillets. If your fish is small, you can use the entire side fillet per serving.

Instead of coral trout, you can user any white meat fish with firm texture of the flesh such as ocean perch, cod, and snapper.

2. You don’t have to have all the vegetables, but they add colours and extra nutrition. Tofu is a must.

Amount of each vegetable can vary, and you can even add a bit more without adjusting the flavour.

3. Awamori is Okinawan sake, which is distilled alcohol. Please see the post for more details about awamori.

Unlike Japanese sake, awamori may not be readily available where you live. If you can’t get awamori, you can use shōchū, which is perhaps the closest Japanese alcohol to awamori. You can also use sake or cooking sake if you can’t get shōchū either.

4. This prevents the fish from curling.

5. Instead of aonori, you could put a small amount of harishōga on top of the fish. See the sample photo in the post.

You could also add wakame seaweed as an alternative. Pop in a small amount of chopped wakame seaweed at the very end of cooking the fish.

6. Nutrition per serving assuming that 50% of the broth is consumed. But in reality, consumption of the soup is minimal, therefore salt intake should come down a bit.

serving: 344g calories: 312kcal fat: 14g (18%) saturated fat: 2.4g (12%) trans fat: 0.0g polyunsaturated fat: 4.2g monounsaturated fat: 5.8g cholesterol: 87mg (29%) sodium: 685mg (30%) carbohydrates: 6.3g (2%) dietary fibre: 2.1g (8%) sugar: 2.2g protein: 39g vitamin D: 6mcg (30%) calcium: mg (22%) iron: 4.1mg (23%) potassium: 800mg (17%)