I love shiso, also known as perilla leaves, and am always thinking about how to use it in recipes. In fact, in my last blog posting on yakumi: Essential Japanese Herbs, Spices, and Condiments, I wrote about shiso (perilla leaves).
This is a simple yet absolutely delicious fish dish that not only uses shiso, but other Japanese standards such as soy sauce and rice vinegar are also used in the sauce. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do. It also makes for a great keto Japanese dish, for those of you eating low carb!
Fried Sardines Stuffed with Shiso in Soy-Vinegar Sauce
Ingredients
- 8 medium-sized sardine fillets, deboned
- Salt as needed
- ½ cup (or as needed) stemmed shiso (perilla) leaves, shredded
- cornstarch as needed
- Vegetable oil as needed for deep-frying
- 6 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
- 6 tbsp unseasoned rice vinegar
Garnish:
- 4 large shiso leaves
Instructions
- Place boned sardine fillets on a flat plate and sprinkle the meat side with salt. Leave for 30 minutes to soften any remaining bones. Rinse in cold water and pat dry. Carefully pick out any bones.
- Place the shredded shiso leaves evenly in each fillet and roll up lengthwise. Secure carefully with toothpicks. Dredge well in the cornstarch and pat off the excess.
- Combine the soy sauce and vinegar in a flat container. Fry the rolled fillets, four at a time, in the hot oil until they begin to float and turn brown all over. Immediately roll the fried, undrained sardines in the soy-vinegar sauce to coat. Carefully remove the toothpicks. Serve piping hot, on individual plates each garnished with a shiso leaf.
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