Sake-steamed Seafood, Seasonal Vegetables Full of Flavor; Attractive Colorful Dish Perfect for Welcoming Guests

By Yasuto Akaike / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

15:22 JST, January 11, 2026

Steamed dishes enhance the taste of their ingredients.

Akihiko Murata, owner of a Japanese restaurant, shares a hearty recipe for seafood and vegetables steamed with sake in an earthenware pot. The colorful dish looks great and is perfect for welcoming guests.

Murata’s restaurant sometimes serves steamed puffer fish and sea bream in small pots, but never in large earthenware ones.

“I created the recipe because I wanted families to eat it together in a lively atmosphere,” he said.

Since it is a simple dish, a fishy smell can affect the overall flavor, so an important step is to sprinkle salt on the red bream and blanch it.

Use a mini Chinese cabbage that is soft and sweet. Peel the skin of a turnip deeply, because the flesh near the skin is hard. Cut off the tip of the shiitake stems, then tear the mushrooms apart by hand.

“When mushrooms are torn apart, they become more fragrant, and flavors can soak into the mushrooms more easily,” Murata said.

After the ingredients are prepared, place them in an earthenware pot with its bottom covered with kombu seaweed. If pieces of red bream are put together, they tend to stick together when steamed, so it is a good idea to put some vegetables such as Chinese cabbage between the fish.

After pouring sake into the pot, all you have to do is to heat it and wait. When the lid is removed, steam pours out bringing a delicious aroma with it.

First, I tried the dish without putting anything on it. I thought it would be light, but the juices at the bottom of the pot were infused with seafood and vegetable extract. When I ate everything together, I found the flavor to be rich and thick. The yuzu citrus peels, umeboshi pickled plum and coarsely ground black pepper added a refreshing aroma to the dish.

I tried the dish with olive oil, ishiri fish sauce and other seasonings and sauces. They made the flavor milder but deeper. The flavors of the ingredients were enhanced in various ways, which made the dish more enjoyable.

Seafood and vegetables steamed with sake

Ingredients: Serves 2 to 4

• 160 grams red bream (fillet)
• 2 shrimp (headless black tiger shrimp with shells on)
• 4 small hamaguri clams
• 4 mini Chinese cabbage leaves
• 1 turnip
• 80 grams carrots
• 4 canola flowers
• 1/2 scallion
• 2 shiitake
• 100 grams maitake mushrooms
• 20 grams kombu seaweed (10 cm x 20 cm)
• 1 umeboshi pickled plum
• Adequate amount of yuzu citrus peels
• 180 milliliters sake
• Adequate amount of coarsely ground black pepper, olive oil, ishiri, ponzu citrus sauce, cut sudachi (Japanese citrus fruit) and lemon.



Directions:

1. Cut the red bream into four equal pieces. Sprinkle both sides with an appropriate amount of salt and leave for 10 minutes. Remove the back vein of the shrimp. Remove any sand from the hamaguri clams and rinse them under cold water.

2. Cut the mini Chinese cabbage into small pieces at the root end and large pieces at the leaf end. Peel the turnip and cut it into six equal pieces. Cut the carrots into semicircular slices about 1 centimeter thick. Cut off the root of the canola flowers. Cut the scallion into diagonal slices. Remove the tip of the stems of the shiitake; cut a slit in the upper part of the stem and tear it in half lengthwise. Break the maitake mushrooms into bite-size pieces.

3. Pour boiling water over the red bream to blanch the surface.

4. Put the kombu at the bottom of the earthenware pot. Place the hard parts of the Chinese cabbage, the turnip and the carrots in the pot. Add the red bream and remaining vegetables as well as the mushrooms, shrimp and hamaguri clams. Top the ingredients with the dried umeboshi pickled plum. Sprinkle the yuzu citrus peels over them and pour sake into the pot. Sprinkle the ingredients with coarsely ground black pepper.

5. Place over high heat for about 1 minute until the sake comes to a boil. Then cover the pot with the lid and steam the ingredients over low heat for about 8 minutes. Serve the ingredients in serving dishes and drizzle them with seasonings and sauces to your liking, such as olive oil, ishiri fish sauce, ponzu citrus sauce, cut sudachi (Japanese citrus fruit) and lemon.

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  The Yomiuri Shimbun
  Peel the turnip and cut it into six equal pieces.

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  The Yomiuri Shimbun
  Pour boiling water over the red bream to blanch the surface.

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  The Yomiuri Shimbun
  Pour sake into the pot.

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