Cook the local flavors once more

Charcoal-grilled saury with sudachi

From: Chestnuts, saury and an autumn feast

Grilled saury with a squeeze of sudachi

Sanma is written 秋刀魚, "autumn sword fish," but that spelling only spread from the Taisho era on; older texts wrote it 青串魚. The name sanma itself came from central Japan northward, while in Kyoto and Wakayama the fish was once called sayori, and from Kansai to Shikoku and Kyushu saira or sairi. Squeezing sudachi over grilled saury is the western Japanese way. Tokushima Prefecture grows 98 percent of Japan's sudachi, and the citrus is a classic companion to grilled fish.

Ingredients

Pacific saury
Sudachi citrus

How I made it

Light charcoal in the garden grill with a torch
Lay the fish on the wire and grill until the skin is crisp
Plate it and squeeze over half a sudachi

Sources: imidas.jp maff.go.jp

This moment in the journey

Sudachi on the veranda

I sat down on the veranda and poured a non-alcoholic beer into a glass. In western Japan, the way to eat grilled saury is with a good squeeze of sudachi.

Sitting in the open doorway, I picked at the fish while looking out over the fields and rooftops. There is a quiet happiness in feeling the seasons turn through what is in season. Beyond lay rice paddies and the village ringed by mountains, the afternoon sun coming through the branches.

Grill saury in the garden and eat it on the veranda with a cold drink: a small dream, now fulfilled. The season for veranda beer has arrived.

Watch this scene on YouTube2:00

Read this scene in the full journey