Kabezon no Ara-dashi

This is a simple one, but it was a bit of a learning journey at the same time.  I've made traditional dashi (awase-dashi) plenty of times and I've made plenty of western style fish stock (mire poix, herbs, etc).  I wanted to make dashi from the cabezon I recently caught because I wanted a more delicate stock that would help bring the nuanced almost shellfish flavors of the cabezon to the foreground.  I also enjoy learning traditional methods and respecting the culinary history of other cultures.  So, I set down on a morning of research and an afternoon of cooking yesterday to make what I now know is ara-dashi -- dashi from fish bones.  The result was a dashi of decent clarity but rich in flavor and mouthfeel.  I made a quick bowl of miso soup with ingredients on hand (country miso, scallion, and wakame) to test it out and it was delicious.

To get things going, I put a couple quarts of water in my stock pot and added some kombu to rehydrate (no heat, just soaking in warm tap water).

The real process started with shimofuri, or the salting and scalding of the fish to clean it of odors, coagulated proteins and blood.  I already cleaned all the blood I could see as part of the normal fish cleaning process, so this probably was more for the first two reasons than the latter one.  I started with the head and frame of the cabezon. I split the head down the middle and then salted every surface, rubbing/scrubbing the fish with the salt.  I let that rest for 20 minutes.  After 20 minutes, I poured 195° water over the fish and let it sit for about a minute, no longer, before draining in a collander and rinsing thoroughly with cold water.

The fish then went into the stock pot with the kombu and I topped up with 3 more quarts of water (enough to cover the fish by a few inches). 



I heated that over medium-low heat and watched it closely until it hit 190°.  I didn't let it go above 190° because I didn't want to emulsify any of the fats or draw out any harsh flavors as that would affect clarity, mouthfeel and flavor.  I skimmed it every 5 or 10 minutes for the same reason.



Once it hit 190°, I lowered the heat and maintained it between 175° and 190° for the duration.  After 15 minutes, I removed the kombu.  I let it simmer for 30 more minutes before killing the heat.  I didn't stir at all in order to maintain that clarity.  I gave it a final skim and then let it settle for 10 minutes.  I carefully removed all the fish from the stock, trying to minimize stirring up any settled proteins and let it settle for another 5 minutes.  After settling, I ladled it through some cheesecloth and a fine mesh sieve.



While the dashi cooled enough to package, I snacked on the fish bits picked off the bones.  Those were some super tasty cabezon cheeks at this point!  I packaged up 4 quarts and was left with about a cup.  At this point, my appetite was awakened and I used that last cup to make the miso soup.



All in all, it was a good learning experience and a fun little journey into a corner of an ancient culture that's new to me.  Oh, and the dashi is delicious!  Feedback and corrections are quite welcome... the learning never stops.

And the recipe... https://mealie.tedski.net/g/home/r/ara-dashi

Great report on the process. It sounds great, I would have loved to been there to taste it! It made me hungry. Thanks for sharing.

Very cool!