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1
Put a thick layer of newspaper on a cutting board.
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2
Place the Pacific saury with the head facing to the left.
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3
Cut the fish in half diagonally with a left-facing cut, aiming towards the fin closest to the head.
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4
Pull the guts out from the cut, and wash off any blood or slime from the fish under running water.
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5
(Your hands may get smelly, so use disposable gloves for this task.)
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6
Wipe off any moisture well with paper towels.
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7
Sprinkle on about 2 pinches of salt per fish from about a 30 cm height, covering both sides of the fish evenly.
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8
Line a frying pan with kitchen parchment paper, and oil it lightly with an oil-impregnated paper towel.
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9
Start cooking over hight heat with the side that will face up when you serve them facing down in the pan.
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10
When they start to make a sizzling sound, lower the heat to low-medium, and cook without covering for 7 to 8 minutes.
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11
Lift the fish up a bit.
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12
When the bottom side is golden brown, turn the fish over and keep cooking over the same level of heat for and additional 7 to 8 minutes.
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13
Arrange the Pacific saury on a plate with the side that was facing down in the pan first facing up (and with the head to the left).
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14
Grate and drain off some daikon radish and form into a neat mound.
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15
Serve this on the side of the fish with a sudachi (small citrus fruit).
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16
Tip: Choose fresh Pacific saury.
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17
They should have clear eyes, shiny blueish skins, and sharply pointed tails.
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18
They should also be nice and firm on the belly side.
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19
Tip: In Step 2, you can use disposable chopsticks and rotate them inside the cylindrical fish body to remove the guts easily.
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20
Put the guts in a plastic bag to dispose of them.
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21
Tip: 1 pinch of salt is the amount you can hold using 3 fingers.
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22
By sprinkling the fish with salt from a height, you can cover it evenly.
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23
Tip: In Step 5, if you try to turn the fish over while it's still raw the skin may come off, so once you hear the pan starting to sizzle hold back and don't move the fish for at least 6 minutes.
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24
You can cook salmon fillets or smelt in this too.
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25
The roe in smelts may burst and splatter so cover with a lid when you're cooking them.
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26
With salmon, you can cover the pan or not - it's up to you.
