Pan-seared Swordfish with Ginger-Soy Sauce (Swordfish Shōgayaki)

Pan-seared Swordfish with Ginger-Soy Sauce is a very healthy main dish. The sauce is similar to the ginger sauce used for Pork Shōgayaki and it is equally quick and easy to make. It is one of the easiest swordfish recipes.

Shōgayaki is a grilled or pan-fried dish with a soy-based sauce mixed with a generous amount of ginger juice (or grated ginger in some cases). It is usually made with sliced pork, but today I made Shōgayaki with fish fillets.

This is a very easy dish to prepare and it’s fast to cook.  I use a small amount of oil to sear the fillets in a frying pan, so the total calories in this dish is very low for a main dish. It is less than 300 Kcal per serving!

What’s in my Pan-seared Swordfish with Ginger-Soy Sauce (Swordfish Shōgayaki)

The ingredients consist of only swordfish fillets and ginger sauce. I added a couple of vegetables to go with the fish but it’s optional.

• Swordfish fillet (about 150g/5.3oz per serving), skin removed
• Oil to sear the fish fillets

Ginger Sauce

• Soy sauce
• Mirin
• Cooking sake
• Grated ginger

Serving

• Medium-sized king oyster mushrooms, halved vertically
• Okra, halved vertically

My swordfish fillet was about 1.5cm/⅝” thick, which I think is just the right thickness for Shōgayaki. It cooks very fast. If you have very thick cuts of swordfish, you may want to halve the thickness by slicing the fillet horizontally.

I added king oyster mushrooms and okra to accompany the Swordfish Shōgayaki. Before halving okra, trim stem end to make it look tidy. The section PREPARATION OF VEGETABLES in Fried Vegetables in Broth (Vegetables Agebitashi) describes how to prepare okra.

You can also use other vegetables such as green beans, snow peas, and/or other Asian mushrooms. I think that green goes very well with the brown colour of Shōgayaki.

How to make Pan-seared Swordfish with Ginger-Soy Sauce (Swordfish Shōgayaki)

As mentioned earlier, it is a very simple recipe.

1. Sprinkle cooking sake and salt over the swordfish fillets and leave them for 10 minutes.
2. Pat-dry the swordfish fillets.
3. Pan-fry the fillets and the vegetables, turn them over and cook.
4. Add the Ginger Sauce and cook with a lid on. Coat the fillets with the sauce.

By cooking the fillet with a lid on, the flesh of the swordfish becomes soft and moist.

If your fillets are thicker, you will need to cook the fillets for longer.

I used swordfish today, but you can use other fish fillets such as tuna steak, marlin steak, Spanish mackerel cutlet, bonito and many more.

I used a large fillet per serving but you can also make Shōgayaki with smaller pieces of fish fillet and serve several pieces on each serving plate or pile them up in a large plate to share (see the photo below).

It takes only 5 minutes to cook Swordfish Shōgayaki. The sauce, with its strong ginger flavour, is so refreshing.

Yumiko

5 from 1 vote

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Pan-seared Swordfish with Ginger-Soy Sauce (Swordfish Shōgayaki)

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

5 mins

Total Time

20 mins

 

Pan-seared Swordfish with Ginger-Soy Sauce is a very healthy main dish. The sauce is very similar to the ginger sauce used for Pork Shōgayaki and it is equally quick and easy to make.

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: swordfish recipes

Author: Yumiko

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

• 2 swordfish fillets (about 150g/5.3oz each, note 1)
• 2 tsp cooking sake
• A pinch of salt
• 1 tbsp oil

Ginger Sauce

• 1 tbsp cooking sake
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp mirin
• 1 tbsp grated ginger

To serve (note 2)

• 2 stems king oyster mushrooms (medium size)
• 2 okra pods

Instructions

1. Sprinkle cooking sake and salt over the fillets and leave for 10 minutes. Then pat-dry the fillets.
2. Halve the king oyster mushrooms vertically.
3. Trim the tip of the stem end. Run your knife around the stem end, where the stem and the pod meet, and remove the black line around the top of the pod. Then, vertically halve the okra.
4. Put oil in a frying pan and heat over medium heat.
5. Place the fish fillets and the vegetables in the frying pan without overlapping.

6. Cook for about 1 minute or so (note 3) until bottom part of the side of the fillets becomes whitish.

7. Turn fillets and vegetables over and cook for another minute.

8. Add the Ginger Sauce to the pan, put a lid on, and cook for 10-15 seconds. Remove the lid and pour the sauce over the fish fillets with a spoon for 5 seconds.

9. Remove the pan from the heat (the sauce evaporates fast if left on the stove which is still hot even after turning the heat off).

10. Transfer each fillet to a serving plate. Place the mushrooms and okra pieces in front of the fish, leaning them on the edge of the fillet. Pour the ginger juice left in the pan over the fish.

Recipe Notes

1. This recipe works best with about 1.5cm/⅝" thick fillets. If you have very thick cuts of swordfish, you may want to halve the thickness by slicing the fillet horizontally.

2. The vegetables to go with the fish are optional but I’d suggest at least one green vegetable to accompany the Shōgayaki fish. It will make the dish visually attractive. Even just a few blanched green beans will do the trick.

3. If your fillet is a bit thicker, you will need to cook it for longer time.

4. Nutrition per serving.

serving: 209g calories: 280kcal fat: 12g (18%) saturated fat: 2.6g (13%) trans fat: 0.1g polyunsaturated fat: 2.2g monounsaturated fat: 6.2g cholesterol: 99mg (33%) sodium: 564mg (24%) potassium: 775mg (22%) carbohydrates: 6.6g (2%) dietary fibre: 0.8g (3%) sugar: 3.9g protein: 31g vitamin a: 5.7% vitamin c: 6.6% calcium: 1.9% iron: 5%