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Aji Fry (Breaded Fried Horse Mackerel)
Serves 2 · About 30 min
Buy horse mackerel that is already butterflied, coat it and shallow-fry it. Serve with sauce and cabbage.
① Cut the cabbage→② Season the fish→③ Coat the fish→④ Fry→⑤ Drain the oil and serve
What to buy
Fish
Vegetables
Eggs & flour
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How to make it
1
Cut the cabbage
- Stack the cabbage leaves on the cutting board, roll them up, and cut from the end as thin as you can (shredded)
- After cutting, soak in a bowl of water for 5 minutes, then drain in a strainer
How to tell it's doneThe cabbage is crisp and drained in the strainer.
2
Season the fish
- Put the fish between paper towels and pat both sides dry
- Sprinkle 1/4 tsp salt (for all 4 fillets) and a pinch of pepper on the flesh side and leave for 5 minutes
- Wipe off the water that comes out with paper towels again
- Feel the flesh, and if there are any hard small bones, pinch and pull them out with your fingers
How to tell it's doneThe surface of the fish is moist, with no water sitting on it.
3
Coat the fish (flour → egg → panko)
- Line up 3 trays or plates. Put 3 tbsp flour in the 1st; 1 egg and 1 tbsp water in the 2nd and mix well with chopsticks; and panko in the 3rd
- Coat the fish in this order: flour → egg → panko. Coat thinly all over with flour, and tap off the extra with your hands
- Press the panko lightly from above with your palm so it sticks
- When you finish coating, wash your hands with soap after touching the raw fish
How to tell it's doneAll 4 fillets are covered in panko, with no white parts showing.
4
Fry
- Pour vegetable oil 1.5 cm deep (about 400 ml) into a frying pan and heat over medium heat for 3–4 minutes
- Check the temperature with dry chopsticks (you can add the fish when it looks like the 'How to tell' note below)
- Add the fish flesh side down, 2 at a time. Adding too many at once lowers the oil temperature
- Do not move them for about 2 minutes after adding. When the bottom is golden brown, turn over with chopsticks and fry about 2 minutes more
How to tell the oil temperature, and when it's done fryingTouch the tips of dry chopsticks to the bottom of the oil: small bubbles keep fizzing (about 170°C). No bubbles = still too low. Big bubbles rushing out hard with smoke = too hot, so turn the heat down.
It's done when both sides are golden brown and the bubbles, big at first, get smaller. Break 1 piece open at the thickest part with chopsticks: the flesh inside is white, with no see-through parts.
It's done when both sides are golden brown and the bubbles, big at first, get smaller. Break 1 piece open at the thickest part with chopsticks: the flesh inside is white, with no see-through parts.
Be carefulThe oil is very hot. Do not leave the pan while frying. If water is left on the fish, the oil splatters, so slide it in gently, from the near side away from you.
5
Drain the oil and serve
- Drain the oil by standing the fried fish up on a rack or a plate lined with paper towels
- Fry the other 2 the same way as step 4. When everything is fried, turn off the heat
- Put on plates with the cabbage and pour tonkatsu sauce over
ReadyNo oil is pooling under the fish.
Be carefulDo not move the used oil while it is hot. Clean up after it has cooled completely.
📚 Learn more about this dish
🥬 Ingredient guide
If it didn't work out
The coating came offWater was left on the fish in step 3, or you did not coat it thinly all over with flour. Next time, wipe off the water well in step 2. Touching it too much while frying also makes it come off.
Burnt outside, raw insideThe oil was too hot. If the inside is see-through, fry more over medium-low heat for 1 minute per side. Next time, check the bubbles before adding.
Soggy and oilyThe oil was not hot enough, or you added too many at once. Next time, fry 2 at a time, at the temperature where bubbles keep fizzing.
It smells fishyYou did not wipe off the water that came out in step 2. Next time, after salting and waiting 5 minutes, wipe it off well.
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