Grilled-and-Fried Ayu with Tade Vinegar and Grated Daikon

With wild ayu, you can eat it whole, starting from the head, but farmed or semi-wild ayu tends to be too tough there to eat comfortably, so I came up with quickly deep-frying the head and collar so the whole fish can be enjoyed. It's fried in oil for just over a minute. Unless the oil is around 180°C, it won't fry up crisp, so the oil temperature needs real attention. Since it's grilled once first and then the head and collar are fried afterward, it ends up being a kind of double-frying. Because I want guests to eat the whole fish, I apply decorative salt (keshō-jio) only to the tail of the grilled-and-fried ayu, so it doesn't turn out too salty overall. As for the tade-zu-oroshi (grated daikon mixed with tade-zu), rather than pouring it over like a typical tade-zu sauce, I place it right on top of the ayu so guests can simply eat it together in one bite.

① Rinse the ayu lightly under running water, pat off the moisture with a cloth, and skewer it in the traditional 'dancing' shape (odori-gushi) that curves the body as if swimming.

② Apply decorative salt (keshō-jio) only to the tail fin, season the rest with a scattering of salt, and grill.

③ Once it's grilled, turn it upside down and deep-fry the head and collar in 180°C oil.

④ Make the tade-zu-oroshi. Mince the water pepper (tade) leaf finely and mix it with grated daikon, then combine it with a separate mixture of 2 parts water to 1 part rice vinegar seasoned with salt to taste, and place it on top of the ayu.