Swordfish Teriyaki

Pat and Doshi gave me a cookbook for my birthday: The Japanese Grill. This was the first two dishes we cooked from it, they were very good, we look forward to making more recipes from the book. The Foil Baked Onions are super simple and would go well with other foods besides Japanese. Think steak! The Swordfish Teriyaki was excellent. We purchased the wonderful fish at McCall's Meat and Fish.

Foil Baked Onions with Soy Sauce

The Japanese Grill

Tadashi Ono & Harris Salat

The beauty of grilling onions this way is that they almost magically transform from sharp to irresistibly car­amelized and sweet. The soy sauce enhances the natural flavor of the onions to make them even more delicious.

Serves 4

2 medium Spanish onions (about 2 pounds), halved across the center

¼ cup soy sauce

Cut four 12-inch-long pieces of heavy-duty aluminum foil and fold each in half. Liberally brush each onion half with soy sauce, and place on foil, cut side down. Fold over the foil to wrap the onions completely.

Preheat a grill to medium. Place the foil-wrapped onions directly on the grate. Grill for about 35 minutes, turning the onions after about 10 minutes, and again after about 20 min­utes. Test the onions for doneness by pressing the sides with tongs. If the onions give easily, they're ready. Unwrap the onions and serve.

Swordfish Teriyaki

The Japanese Grill

Tadashi Ono & Harris Salat

Serves 4

We use this original style of teriyaki sauce to give grilled fish an intense savory flavor and aroma plus a glossy lacquered sheen. In Japan this dish is typi­cally prepared with yellowtail, but here we use swordfish, which is just as good and easier to find. You can also substitute any dense, meaty fish like shark, mahi mahi, or salmon. Finally, if you want to experiment with other flavors, try spiking the teriyaki with a bit of dried or chopped fresh dill, rosemary, thyme, or tarragon.

¼        cup plus 2 tablespoons soy sauce

2        tablespoons sake

¼        cup mirin

1        tablespoon sugar

4        swordfish steaks 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick), skinned, about 2 pounds

Sansho, for accent

Add the ¼ Cups of sauce, sake, mirin, and sugar to a saucepan and bring it to a boil over medium heat. Boil for 1 minute, remove from the heat, and let the marinade come to room temperature.

Brush the remaining 2 tablespoons of soy sauce on all sides of the swordfish steaks. Reserve ¼ cup of the marinade and set aside. Pour the remaining marinade into a baking dish or rimmed sheet pan. Lay the swordfish steaks in the marinade and gently turn them 4 times to generously coat all over. Let the swordfish marinate for 15 minutes.

Preheat a grill to medium-hot. Brush the cooking grate clean and oil it well. Grill the swordfish for about 6 minutes for medium-rare: Start by grilling the fish for about 2 minutes on each side. Flip the swordfish and brush on the reserved mari­nade. Grill the swordfish for about 2 more minutes, flipping every 30 seconds and brushing on more marinade after each turn. The swordfish will turn a rich honey color as it grills, but be very careful not to burn; if it starts to blacken, pull the fish off the grill. Accent with sansho and serve immediately.