Sole with Vegetables and Seaweed Jelly (continued)

Ingredients

• 1 whole fish Sole (whole) (Head removed, cleaned, scaled, and cut into fillets or slices with small bones removed. Ask your fishmonger to do this if you prefer.)
• 1 cup Mirin sauce (A sweet Japanese rice wine condiment, available at Asian grocery stores. Use standard mirin (hon mirin) for best results.)
• 1 pinch Salt (Just a small pinch to season the mirin.)
• 2 whole Carrots (Peeled and chopped into small pieces.)
• 0.25 pound (approx. 115 g) Dried mushrooms (Use dried shiitake mushrooms. Washed and soaked in water until soft before chopping.)
• 0.5 pound (approx. 225 g) Dry seaweed jelly (Known as kanten or agar-agar. Available in Asian grocery stores as dried bars or flakes. Washed and soaked before use.)
• 1 quart (approx. 1 litre) Water (Used to dissolve the seaweed jelly. Additional small amounts of water are also used to boil the vegetables.)
• 0.5 cup Sugar (Plain white granulated sugar.)
• 1 tablespoon Syou sauce (soy sauce) (Syou is the historical spelling of soy sauce (shoyu). Use a standard Japanese soy sauce such as Kikkoman.)

Instructions

1. 1Place the whole sole on a clean chopping board. Using a sharp knife or kitchen scissors, cut away the head. Rinse the fish thoroughly under cold running water, rubbing off any scales with your fingers or the back of the knife — work from tail to head. Cut the fish into fillets or slices, and use tweezers or your fingers to remove any small pin bones you can feel. Set the prepared fish aside on a clean plate. Tip: If you are not comfortable filleting fish, ask your fishmonger to do it for you.
2. 2Place the dried mushrooms in a bowl and cover with cold water. Let them soak for at least 30 minutes, or until they are fully soft and pliable. Once soaked, remove them from the water, gently squeeze out any excess moisture, and chop them into small pieces. Discard the soaking water (or save it for another use such as stock). Tip: The mushrooms need to be soaked before chopping — do not skip this step or they will be tough and chewy.
3. 3Place the dry seaweed jelly (kanten/agar-agar) in a large bowl and cover with cold water. Wash it by swishing it around in the water. Pour off the water, then cover with fresh cold water and leave to soak for 2 hours. The jelly will swell and soften. After soaking, remove it from the water and squeeze out as much water as you can with your hands. Set aside. Tip: This soaking step is essential — it allows the seaweed jelly to dissolve properly when boiled later.
4. 4Pour 1 cup of mirin sauce into a small saucepan. Add a pinch of salt. Place the saucepan over medium heat and bring to a gentle boil. Let it boil for about 15 minutes — this reduces the mirin slightly and mellows its sweetness. Watch the pan and lower the heat if it starts to bubble vigorously. After 15 minutes, remove from heat and set the mirin aside. Tip: Boiling mirin for this length of time burns off some of the alcohol and deepens the flavour.
5. 5Peel the carrots and chop them into small pieces (roughly 1 cm dice). Place the chopped carrots and the soaked, chopped mushrooms into a medium saucepan. Add just enough water to cover the vegetables — a small amount, not the full quart (that is for the seaweed jelly later). Place over medium heat and bring to a boil. Cook until the carrots and mushrooms are tender when pierced with a fork — approximately 10 to 15 minutes. Drain the vegetables through a fine sieve or strainer, discarding the cooking liquid. Set the cooked vegetables aside.
6. 6Pour the boiled mirin (from Step 4) over the strained, cooked vegetables. Stir gently to combine. Set aside — the vegetables will absorb the mirin flavour as you prepare the jelly.
7. 7Break the soaked and squeezed seaweed jelly into small pieces with your hands and place them into a large saucepan. Pour in the full quart (approximately 1 litre) of water. Place over medium-high heat and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. The jelly pieces will slowly dissolve into the water — this can take 5 to 10 minutes of stirring. Keep stirring until there are no visible lumps and the liquid is clear. Tip: Make sure the jelly is fully dissolved before moving on, or the final set texture will be uneven.
8. 8Pour the dissolved jelly liquid through a fine sieve or strainer into a clean saucepan to remove any undissolved bits. Add the half cup of sugar and the tablespoon of soy sauce (syou sauce) to the strained liquid. Stir well over low heat until the sugar is fully dissolved. Taste the mixture — it should be lightly sweet with a savoury soy note. Remove from heat.
9. 9Add the prepared sole fillets (from Step 1) and the mirin-coated vegetables (from Step 6) to the hot jelly liquid in the saucepan. Stir gently but thoroughly so that the fish and vegetables are evenly distributed throughout the liquid. The residual heat of the jelly will gently cook the fish pieces. Stir carefully to avoid breaking up the fish too much.
10. 10Carefully pour the mixture into a smooth, flat-bottomed dish or container — a rectangular loaf tin, smooth wooden box, or any similar shallow dish works well. Tap the container gently on the counter a few times to help the fish and vegetables settle evenly. Allow the mixture to cool at room temperature for about 30 minutes, then cover and transfer to the refrigerator. Leave overnight, or for at least 8 hours, until the jelly is completely firm. Tip: Making this the day before serving is strongly recommended — it will be firmer, easier to cut, and will taste better cold.
11. 11Once the jelly is completely firm, run a thin knife around the edges of the container to loosen it. Turn it out onto a clean cutting board, or leave it in the dish and cut directly inside. Use a sharp knife to cut the set jelly into your desired shapes — small rectangles, squares, triangles, or decorative shapes if you wish. Arrange on a serving plate and serve cold. Tip: Dip your knife in warm water between cuts for cleaner slices.