I found fresh monkfish liver, AKA akimono or “the foie gras of the sea”, at my local fishmonger for $12.95 a pound. That’s not much more than calf’s liver! So it was time to bring some home and do some experimentation with akimono sushi.
I did a caucus of the internets for preparation suggestions which are all over the place. Some mention getting rid of the “fishy odor” but mine had a mild and pleasant scent of the ocean. I excised a couple of visible veins then soaked it in cold water a couple of hours, drained and soaked again in a mixture of white wine (would have used sake if I had some) and soy sauce.
After a couple more hours the liver was drained, dried with a paper towel, wrapped with plastic wrap then wrapped again in aluminum foil and formed into a burrito shape. I steamed it in a wok for about 30 minutes then refrigerated overnight. In the morning the result was well shaped and easy to work with.
First thing I did was a taste test using a simple prep I saw on several Japanese websites: chunks of akimono in ponzu sauce (a citrus-flavored soy) with a garnish of shaved green onion. The akimono had a very mild taste with the texture and the fact that it was clearly an oceanic product being the draw.
Next I made some sushi handrolls as documented above. I was out of nori sheets so used these snack packs of Annie Chun. Dabbed a bit of wasabi onto the nori then added the sushi rice and shredded green onion, cucumber, avocado, mint leaf (a pretty good stand-in for shiso) and the akimono; rolled it up then added a second sheet for handling purposes on top and served up with some good shoyu for dipping.
I’ve still got some left so will next try it in pasta and a seared version, as you might do with foie gras. But I think the sushi roll is going to stay my favorite. It reminds me of our favorite sushi place in San Francisco, Hama-Ko, where the chef would trot out a nigiri with “monkfish ribber” as a special treat.