• Daikon Chrysanthemums:
  • 1 medium daikon (Chinese white radish)
  • 2" kombu (seaweed)
  • ½ cup rice vinegar
  • ½ cup water
  • 4 tsp. white granulated sugar
  • ¼ tsp. salt
  • ¼ tsp. dried red chilies
• Teriyaki Sauce:
  • 1 cup mirin (sweet rice wine)
  • 5 fl oz. dark soy sauce
  • 3 Tbs. tamari soy sauce (if not available, increase dark soy sauce and mirin by 3 Tbs. each)
• 4 x 7 oz. yellowtail fillets, with skin and tail if possible, cut into fillet 3/8" thick
• 1 tsp. salt
• mountain vegetables (fiddleback ferns) or spinach leaves

• To make the daikon chrysanthemums, cut the daikon into four pieces, each 2" deep.  Slice each piece lengthwise at 1/6" intervals, almost to the depth of each piece.  Then cut the same way across the width.  Mix together with the other daikon ingredients and soak the cut daikon in   the mixture for 1½ hours before serving time.
• To make the teriyaki sauce, combine all the sauce ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil over a high heat.  Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until the sauce is reduced by 10%.
• To prepare and cook the yellowtail fillets, sprinkle them with salt and let them stand for 15 minutes.  Wash and pat dry.  Marinade the dish in the teriyaki sauce for 1 hour, then remove the fillets from the sauce, reserving the sauce.  Insert three metal skewers into each fillet, so that the skewers fan out the fish and keep it flat.  Grill the fish over a preheated medium grill or barbecue until they are slightly browned.  Turn and grill the other side.  Just before the fish is cooked, about five minutes, brush and coat it again with teriyaki sauce and pour a little teriyaki sauce over the fish.
• To serve, carefully remove the skewers.  Cut each fillet into two or three pieces and arrange them on serving plates.  Garnish each plate with a daikon chrysanthemum and lightly cooked mountain vegetables or spinach leaves.

Make 4 servings.

Recipe supplied by Hotel Inter·Continental Tokyo Bay