Grilled Nodoguro with Yuan Sauce

When I was in junior high school, the lunch box of the friend who sat next to me contained an arrangement of delicious-looking fried shrimp and hamburger steaks. Of course my mother’s lunch boxes were also delicious, however they often included rosy seabass or butterfish. Of course they were delicious enough, but as a 13-year-old boy, I cannot lie; the fried shrimp looked tastier. One day, I made the decision to propose a swap of some rosy seabass for fried shrimp with my friend, and he happily accepted. Overpowered with joy, I downed the shrimp in one mouthful. But it didn’t leave the deep impression I had expected. On the other hand, my friend who ate the rosy seabass said with a look of surprise, “that’s the best fish I’ve ever tasted!”. That was possibly the first time I felt that I was the son of a chef. After becoming a chef myself and returning to Kanazawa, I realised that rosy seabass was the food with the longest history at our family’s Japanese restaurant “Zeniya”. Since then, whenever cooking abroad, if possible I take rosy seabass with me and add it to the menu. I haven’t changed the original recipe at all.