Mahi Mahi and Julienned Veggies In Sweet and Savory Japanese Sauce

Soy sauce and mirin usually goes hand in hand in Japanese seasonings. Most likely you'll see sake in the bunch too. So take that as the base, and to add more depth of flavors, I used both the black vinegar and rice vinegar, also sugar and some finely chopped ginger. 

Turned out the sauce worked really well with mahi mahi, I suppose it'll taste just as good if you want to change the protein to chicken or pork slices.

Mahi mahi and julienned veggies in sweet and savory Japanese sauce - 

Ingredients?

• 300 grams boneless mahi mahi
• 80 grams enoki mushroom
• 1/3 medium carrot
• 1/4 small onion
• 1 small bundle cilantro
• Some corn starch
• Some olive oil
• Some salt

Sauce:

• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon mirin
• 1 tablespoon black vinegar
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons drinkable water
• 1 teaspoon scrapped and finely chopped ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar

How?

Slice the mahi mahi to thicker pieces, similar to the size shown in my pictures. Season both sides of the fish with some salt. Have a plate filled with some corn starch and dip the fish with it. Tap and shake away excess corn starch, then set the fish aside for few minutes before actually cooking it, that way the corn starch can really settle/cling onto the fish.

Mix all the ingredients listed under the "sauce" section in a bowl.

Peel and thinly slice the onion. Peel and julienne the carrot. Trim-off the bottom of the enoki mushroom, separate the strings and cut in half if the length appears to long. Chop the cilantro.

Have a pan ready and drizzle about 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Switch to medium heat and wait till the oil gets warm. Add in mahi mahi and sear till the bottom turns golden. Flip and sear the other side till golden too.

Carefully scoop out the seared fish pieces and set aside for later use.

Drizzle more oil if there's not enough to evenly coat the bottom of the pan. Still using medium heat, add in onion slices, carrot strips, and enoki mushroom. Give it a quick stir-fry. I prefer to cook till the carrot has been softened. 

Pour in the sauce mixture. Cook till reduce a bit. Use higher heat if needed.

Add the fish back and gently mix together with the sauce. Further reduce a little.

Plate and garnish with chopped cilantro.

I was very happy with the choice of fish here. Mahi mahi has a moderately firm texture that can withstand longer cooking and stronger sauce used. Also the corn starch coating further absorbed some sauce, making the fish much more flavorful in the end.

The sauce was also good with rice. Even Mister who's usually not a fan of vinegar-added dishes really enjoyed this one.  

Other recipes using mahi mahi:

• Oven-baked mahi tikka - also a great option for tortillas
• Spicy mahi mahi with Asian seasonings 麻辣鬼頭刀魚塊
• Pan-fried mahi mahi with Chinese basil 鹽酥鬼頭刀魚頭肉