Ankimo

Foie de lotte (ankimo)

What it is

Japan calls it the foie gras of the sea, and the comparison is anatomical rather than poetic: in cold water the liver can reach a tenth of the fish's weight. Salted, rinsed with sake, rolled in cloth and steamed — ankimo is a preparation, not a cut, and the lean tail it comes from tastes nothing like it.

In the kitchen

Devein it while the liver is still cold and firm, then salt thirty minutes and rinse with sake before rolling — skip either step and the terrine turns bitter and grainy. Steam thirty minutes, chill overnight, slice with a wetted blade.

Goes with

Radish Spring onion Soy sauce Yuzu Rice vinegar Chives

Same species

Monkfish cheek Monkfish

In season alongside

Fugu shirako Ikura Herring milt Hairy crab Shirako Velvet swimming crab

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