Classic Salt-Grilled Fish

Ingredients

• Four 8-inch sardines, or 6-ounce swordfish steaks
• Salt
• 1 cup grated daikon
• 4 tsp. soy sauce
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges

Steps

1. To clean the sardines, have at hand a large bowl of cold salted water. Rinse the whole fish under cold running water. Scale the fish. Cut open the belly, and remove the gills and intestine without damaging them. Rinse the inside of the belly thoroughly but gently. Don’t use a toothbrush, because sardines are very tender. Rinse the fish again in the salted water. Drain the fish, and wipe it dry with paper towels. For a more attractive presentation of cooked whole fish, you can remove the gills and intestine together without cutting the belly. To do this, insert a pair of disposable wooden chopsticks through the mouth of the fish and deep into the belly. Rotate the chopsticks several times, and then gently pull them out, with the intestine and gills sandwiched between them. If you won’t be cooking the fish for several hours, wrap it in plastic, and refrigerate it.
2. If you are using swordfish steaks, rinse them in cold salted water (1½ tablespoons fine salt per quart of water) very briefly. Once fish is filleted and cut into pieces, it loses its flavor quickly in water. Drain the steaks, and wipe them dry with paper towels.
3. Salt the fish using the proper amount of salt (see note), and let it stand for 20 minutes. During the salting period, fire up a grill or broiler. Heat the grill rack or broiler pan to a very high temperature before placing the fish on it. This will prevent the fish from sticking to the rack or pan.
4. Rinse the fish in a bowl of salted cold water (1½ tablespoons fine salt per quart of water). Wipe the fish dry with a paper towel.
5. Place the fish on the hot grill rack or broiler pan, about 4 inches from the heat source, with the side that will face the diner toward the heat. Cook the fish over high heat until its surface has attained a nice golden color. Turn over the fish just once. A 1-inch-thick fish takes about 8 to 10 minutes of total cooking time.
6. Mix the daikon with the soy sauce. Accompany each serving with a little tinted daikon and two lemon wedges.