Namban Monkfish

Namban means “southern barbarian,” the name given to the tall, fair-skinned, redheaded Portuguese who landed in Japan in the sixteenth century, sailing up from Southeast Asia. The preparation uses techniques and ingredients adopted from the Portuguese— deep frying, vinegar marination, and dried red chile pepper. Here I quickly deep-fry the fish and marinate it in vinegar that has been spiced with dried red chile pepper and sweetened. The dish is usually prepared and served cold durin