Yellowtail is one of my favorite types of fish. It goes by many names, like hamachi in Japan, ricciola in Italy, as well as amberjack and kingfish. It is a white fish but more fatty and therefore more flavorful and succulent than European sea bass (branzino), cod, or sea bream. And at the same time less fatty and with a more delicate flavor than mackerel. Because yellowtail is so flavorful, it can handle a more pronounced sauce. For this recipe I briefly smoked the head and bones of the yellowtail, and then used the smoked bones to make a stock, which I subsequently reduced and thickened with a bit of butter to create a lovely sauce. The smoky sauce is delicious with the fish. I served it with grilled zucchini, and the sweetness of the slightly caramelized zucchini worked very well with the smokiness. I cooked the fish sous vide to ensure it was perfectly cooked and succulent, but you could also cook the fish in the oven.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 600 grams (1.3 lbs) yellowtail fillet (without skin) in 4 portions of 150 grams (.3 lb) each
• 125 ml (1/2 cup) dry white wine
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• extra virgin olive oil
• 1 Tbsp cold butter
• 4 lemon slices, for garnish
• 2 zucchini, halved, seeded, and sliced thickly

For the sauce

• head, bones, and skin of the yellowtail
• 1 carrot, sliced
• 1 stick celery, sliced
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 Tbsp sawdust for smoking

Instructions

Spread out 2 tablespoons of sawdust for smoking in the appropriate area on the bottom of a stovetop smoker.

Place the head, bones, and skin of the yellowtail on the rack in the smoker.

Close the smoker, put it over heat, and smoke for 15 minutes. I recommend to do this outside because of the fumes it creates.

After 15 minutes of smoking, the head, skin, and bones, will be nicely golden.

Transfer the bones, head, and skin to a stockpot, and cover with cold water.

Chop the carrot, onion, and celery, and add this to the stockpot.

Cover, bring to a boil, then simmer gently for 20 minutes to make a stock.

Sieve the stock and discard the solids.

Pour the stock into a wide shallow pan, bring to a boil, and then simmer until reduced to about 125 ml (1/2 cup).

Then add 125 ml (1/2 cup) of dry white wine, and allow to reduce again to 125 ml (1/2 cup).

The reduced fish stock is now very flavorful. I’ve transferred it into a small saucepan as that would make it easier to reheat and serve it later. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Season the kingfish with salt and vacuum seal it with a bit of extra virgin olive oil (just a little, especially if you use an external vacuum sealer, as otherwise the oil will be sucked into the machine). The main purpose of the oil is to prevent the portions of fish to stick together or to get stuck to the plastic bag. Refrigerate the fish for at least one hour to allow the salt to penetrate into the fish. This greatly improves the texture of the fish, as described in this article.

Remove the ends off the zucchini, cut them in half lengthwise, scrape out the seeds with a spoon, cut into thick slices, place them on kitchen paper, and season with salt on both sides. Allow the salt to draw out some of the water from the zucchini for about an hour.

The dish can be prepared in advance up to this point.

Preheat the oven to 225C/440F. Line a baking sheet with oven paper. Brush the zucchini with olive oil on all sides. Place the zucchini slices in a single layer on the oven paper lined baking sheet.

Roast the zucchini in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes at 225C/440F, then turn the slices, and roast the other side for another 10 to 15 minutes. The courgette is done if it is golden brown.

In the meantime, cook the kingfish sous vide at 50C/122F for 30 minutes.

Alternatively, cook the kingfish in the oven until the core temperature reaches 50C/122F, about 10 minutes.

Just before you are ready to serve, bring the sauce to a boil, and turn off the heat as soon as it boils. Add 1 tablespoon of cold butter, cut into small pieces, to the sauce, and whisk until the butter has melted and the sauce has thickened slightly.

Arrange the zucchini on preheated plates. Take the fish out of the sous vide at the last moment, take it out of the bag, and place it on the center of the plates. It is fine to leave the fish in the sous vide a bit longer if you are not ready to serve after it has been cooked for 30 minutes. You should serve it as soon as possible after you’ve taken it out of the sous vide, as 50C/122F is the perfect serving temperature, which means that it will cool off below perfect serving temperature pretty quickly. To help prevent this, spoon the sauce over the top of the fish. Serve right away with a slice of lemon.

Wine pairing

This is great with a full-bodied oaked dry white wine. We enjoyed it with a oaked late harvest smoky Pinot Blanc from Markus Molitor in the Mosel, Germany, which was a fantastic combination. An oaked Chardonnay would also work very well.