Deep-Fried Tilefish (Special Selection)
Visiting Tokyo recently my friends and I took many recommendations from the excellent book ONLY IN TOKYO from Australian chefs Michael Ryan and Luke Burgess.
One of the very best was KOKOROMAI, (translating as “Heart Of Rice”) where the Omakase menu featuring the best of the season is spectacular. Specialising in the purity of rice, we worked our way through the menu with course after course of outstanding dishes. This one stood out for me as something unique and very special. It may sound simple in its description and even its look, but boy, the flavour and texture knocks you for six. Japanese Tilefish is known as sweet sea bream. It has soft meat with a sweet, almost refreshing flavour. Here at KOKOROMAI, the fish was grilled and then lightly fried, but what was amazing was the skin, with the scales still attached, very deeply fried and layered on top, perfectly crisped with a light crunch, adding a secondary flavour and phenomenal texture, that was absolutely superb. I’ve never seen fish done quite like this and it was resoundingly delicious. Served very simply with warm Gingko nuts, lime and sea salt, it was, to my mind, an utterly perfect dish. Exquisite.
KOKOROMAI SHIROKANE
3 Chome-15-16 Shirokane, Minato City, Tokyo 108-0072, Japan
+81 3-6277-0786