Baked in the oven, this Grilled Mackerel or Saba Shioyaki is the simplest fish recipe you can make on your busy weeknight. It’s a little rustic, but a thing of beauty, with its golden crispy skin and delicious flavor. Serve it with steamed rice, miso soup, and a salad, you’ll have a lovely Japanese meal for dinner.
Grilled Mackerel or Saba Shioyaki (鯖の塩焼き) is one of the popular seafood dishes served as an entree or part of a bento combination in Japanese restaurants in the U.S. You may already know this, but what you may not know is how fast and easy it is to make this grilled fish at home. This is the reason I love making this for my family dinner — it feels special, but is so very simple.
What does Saba Shioyaki mean?
Saba (鯖) is mackerel and Shioyaki (塩焼き) means salt (shio) and grilling (yaki). As you can guess, the only seasoning we need for this dish is salt, which brings out the rich flavors of mackerel. Anyone can just season with salt and cook, and call it a recipe; however, I’ll show you a few tips you can use to make the dish extra delicious!
2 Tips to Make Delicious Grilled Mackerel (Saba Shioyaki)
1. The Use of Sake
If you’re familiar with Japanese cooking, you’d notice that the majority of recipes call for sake (Japanese rice wine). There are many benefits of using sake in Japanese cuisine, and this recipe is no exception.
We use sake in this grilled mackerel to:
- Add umami
- Tenderize the fish
- Make the texture more “plump” (“Fukkura” ふっくら in Japanese)
- Remove any fishy odor
If you are not sure what type of sake you can buy, read this post on my blog.
2. The Use of Salt
Salt is used not only to season the fish, but it also extracts water from the fish and eliminates any unpleasant smell. Once you sprinkle the mackerel with salt, let it rest for 20 minutes. Do not let it sit anytime shorter or longer. If it is rested too short a time, the fish does not soak up enough salty flavor and the smell may still linger. On the other hand, if you rest it for too long, the smell may be gone but the flesh will get too tight and lose its texture.
What to Serve with Grilled Mackerel
Thanks to its light yet flavorful texture, saba shioyaki pairs well with many dishes. Here are my suggestions:
Rice
Soup
2-3 Sides
- Kinpira gobo (stir-fried burdock root and carrot)
- Chikuzenni (Nishime) (simmered chicken and vegetables)
- Spinach gomaae (spinach with sesame sauce)
- Simmered kabocha squash
- Pickled cabbage
Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want to look for substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here.
Similar Recipes:
Recipe by Namiko Chen of Just One Cookbook. All images and content on this site are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission. If you’d like to share this recipe on your site, please re-write the recipe in your own words and link to this post as the original source. Thank you.
Baked in the oven, this Grilled Mackerel or Saba Shioyaki is the simplest fish recipe you can make on your busy weeknight. Serve with steamed rice, miso soup, and salad to go with this delicious fish!
- 10 oz mackerel (saba) (280 g, 2 fillets)
- 2 Tbsp sake
- ½ tsp kosher/sea salt (I use Diamond Crystal; Use half for table salt)
- 1 inch daikon radish (grated, to serve)
- 1 tsp soy sauce (to serve)
- 1 wedge lemon
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Gather all the ingredients.
- Coat the fish with 2 Tbsp sake.
- Pat dry with paper towel (and discard the sake) and transfer the fish to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Sprinkle ½ tsp salt on both sides of the fish.
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Let it sit at room temperature for 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400 ºF (200 ºC) with a rack placed in the middle.
- After 20 minutes, pat dry the excess moisture came out from the fish.
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Place the fish skin side down and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the flesh is golden brown.
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Grate daikon radish using (I love this grater).
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Serve the grilled mackerel with grated daikon and a lemon wedge on the side. Pour a few drops of soy sauce on grated daikon and eat the fish with grated daikon. Enjoy!
Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want to look for substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here.
Recipe by Namiko Chen of Just One Cookbook. All images and content on this site are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission. If you’d like to share this recipe on your site, please re-write the recipe in your own words and link to this post as the original source. Thank you.
Editor’s Note: The post was originally published in April 2013. The images and content have been updated in February 2019.
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Hi Nami san, I chance upon this webpage when I’m trying to find the Saba shio receipe. I have tried to cook and the skin always stick to the aluminum foil. Can I check if I can bake the fish with the skin facing up instead of skin facing down?
Thanks so much!
Hi Serene! Spray or brush the oil on aluminum foil would help. You can also put on wire rack too, if it’s available. But sure, you can cook skin facing up – make sure you don’t burn the skin. 🙂
Hi Nami-San,
Many thanks for your reply.
I have tried using oil but the skin got stuck onto the foil as well. Guess I am just bad at cooking. Maybe I should use parchment paper instead. Do you think this is a better choice then aluminum foil?
Serene, no no, you are doing fine. It easily sticks to the foil even you oil it. Parchment paper works too, but make sure there is no extra paper close to the heat sauce because it can be burned and dangerous (especially toaster oven is so small). Hope that helps! 🙂
Besides mackerel and salmon what other type of fish is nice when you grill with salt seasoning? Will snapper taste as good?
Hi Seny! We grill many kinds of fish including snapper. There are many kinds of snappers, and for some, we use soy sauce based sauce to simmer, etc. I prefer simmer in soy sauce for snapper similar to this:
https://www.justonecookbook.com/recipes/kinmedai-nitsuke/
Hope that helps!
i have a cheap toaster oven that doesn’t have a preheat option, do I still need to preheat it? Any idea how long that would take? I tried broiling once it didn’t come out well (no browning). But I would love to make this in a toaster oven instead of heating up the whole kitchen. Thanks. This looks like a tasty simple dinner.
Hi Evie! My toaster oven doesn’t have pre-heat either, but if you can leave it on for a few minutes ahead of time, that’s considered pre-heat. To be honest, I sometimes skip preheating and just start cooking. The cooking time is a bit longer than I specified but total cooking is about 25 minutes or so at 400F (200C). Now I’m not sure how big your oven toaster is and how close your heat source is, but if you have a typical small toaster oven, it should have enough heat and time to cook the fish with nice char. Hope this helps! 🙂
Thanks for publishing this recipe!
Usually my partner cooks Saba and I do prep. like grating daikon but I wanted to suprize her.. Turned out very nice.Best Wishes
Hi Mingus! You’re very welcome! I’m so happy to hear your partner enjoyed this dish! Thanks so much for your feedback! 🙂
I will surely try this menu.
Hi Shari! Hope you enjoy! 🙂
Hi , thank you for the recipe. May I know why you put the fish skin side down on the baking sheet? I thought if the skin is up, it will keep the fish moist & the skin will be crispy.
If the heat sauce is up (top), we usually cook the flesh side first (to firm up the flesh). In Japan we have a saying 魚身鶏皮 (Fish, Flesh, Chicken, Skin), meaning you cook flesh first for the fish, and skin first for chicken. When you cook skin first, the skin shrinks, cracks, and fish loses the flavors. But it’s up to you. 🙂
Dear Nami, I am going to bake the saba in my oven, what is the temperature I should set it at?
Hi Hwei! Step 5: Preheat the oven to 400 ºF (200 ºC).
Hi Nami, I would love to try this recipe but the only mackerels I find at the market are from China. Where can I find mackerels from other countries? Thank you!
Hi Ann! Hmmm I haven’t bought mackerels for a while so I didn’t pay attention to the source. Try other supermarket with great seafood selection. And maybe a store that cares about quality and source?
Thank you for your prompt reply Nami!
Hi Nami
I just tried the grilled saba it was delicious! However my fish didn’t have the golden brown skin like yours. Do I neex to flip the fish ? I baked for 25 minutes. I was afraid over baking may cause the fish to turn dry. Nevertheless my family still thoroughly enjoyed it!
Hi Minn! Thanks so much for trying this recipe! I use a toaster oven, which heat source is pretty close to the fish compared to the oven. Maybe that’s why? Did you use a toaster oven too? If you use an oven, maybe use “broil” setting and give some distance (not too close so it doesn’t burn). 🙂 Hope this helps!
The sake really balances out the fishiness while it’s baking and while your eating it. I will forever dunk mackarel in sake. Thank you very much for this awesome recipe.
Hi Pauline! Happy to hear you liked the recipe! Thank you for your kind words. 🙂
I know this is an old post but I wanted to say I love this recipe because its so simple, and I eat it all the time because saba is always on sale at my local market! Love it with rice and an ume!
Hi Brent! Aww thank you! I’m so happy you tried this old recipe. I will need to bring back older posts to life since there are so many easy and simple recipes that people can make. Thank you for “digging” to my old recipe archives. xoxo 😀
All the best Nami – get well and be well
John B in Canada
Thank you John!
Nami-san,
Do you keep mackerel in you freezer? If so, how do you thaw and cook it for Saba Shioyaki?
Thanks!
Hi Aya! I do if they are frozen when I purchased. And I let it thaw in the fridge. 🙂
So is it a half tsp of salt per piece, or for the whole recipe?
Hi Cush! For this recipe. It’s basically a whole fish (2 fillets). The Japanese grocery store sells one fillet in a package and they cut in the middle to fit in the package (that’s why it’s cut). 🙂
Hi Nami, the mackerels I buy are frozen and lightly salted. Do I still salt them? Thanks!
Hi Kerry! No, you don’t need to salt. Enjoy! 🙂
Thank you for the additional sides recommendations. It helps making dinner for a large hungry family easier. 🙂
You’re very welcome Emmy! A lot of requested the pairing dishes so I wanted to be more helpful. 🙂
Sentimental to read I was there to comment in 2013! Learned a thing or two I still use ) ! Hope you had a super time skiing: loved the IG post . . .
Hi Eha! We had a great time skiing! And yes, I sometimes see your old comments and made my heart warm… xoxo
I hope you are feeling better! Take care of your health! In Japan, are fish dishes usually served with the bones still in the fish or are the bones usually removed during prep time and served boneless? This looks so yummy!!!
Hi Emily! Oh, I’m sorry, you probably saw earlier comments from 2013 when this post was originally published. I’m healthy and doing well! Thanks for your kind thoughts.
Yes, in Japan, it’s common to serve a whole fish without removing bones. You learn how to debone your grilled/simmered fish growing up from early age (elementary school kids can do it). 🙂
I just made it and it’s delicious 🙂 The only thing I wish I didn’t do was place the fish with the skin down because it stuck to the parchment paper. I always come back here whenever I feel like preparing Japanese dishes at home. Thank you for sharing your recipes with us!
Hi Leena! Thank you for trying this recipe! Happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe and others on my blog! Thanks for your kind feedback, Leena!
Delicious recipe. The only challenging part was finding fresh mackerel. Also, I couldn’t seem to get the fish to turn golden brown like in your pictures and others on the web. If I cooked it any longer, it would have dried out. Maybe if I added some mirin, soy sauce, and/or sugar to help it brown?
Hi Michael! I find the most reasonable mackerel I can find (and of course delicious) is Korean grocery stores. They sell frozen one, but I find them pretty good quality. Move the heat source closer. Another option is to broil the fish. 🙂
Best recipe for grilled mackerel, I ate two whole fish after cooked them. So good!
Hi Alex! I’m so glad to hear that! Thank you for your kind feedback. 🙂
I love this recipe for Saba!
It’s so delicious. It’s the only way I will make it now. Thank you for this. Saba is my favorite .
Hi Greta! I’m so glad! Thanks so much for your kind feedback ❤️
Saba is now a regular on our grocery shopping list – so easy! I use Chinese rice wine as it’s expensive to use sake to marinate, tastes fine.
Hi Claudine! Thank you so much for your kind feedback! I’m so glad to hear you enjoy the recipe. Yes, Chinese rice wine works too! xo
hi, i enjoy reading your recipes. May i please ask, how long do I wait after I coat the fish with sake before I pat it dry? thanks
Hi Cheryl! Thank you so much! You just coat and pat dry right away to remove moisture. 🙂
I just bought the saba. May i know what kind of the function(mode) of the oven? Top and bottom heat, top heat with fan? Thanks
Hi Mill! I use conventional (no fan) oven and bake at 400 ºF (200 ºC) for 20 minutes. I believe the heat is both top and bottom. 🙂
Hi Nami, I tried out your recipe. The skin of the mackerel came out flaked and wasn’t at all crispy. I followed the recipe closely… what did I do wrong? It did taste lovely though:-)
Hi Sylvia! Thank you for trying this recipe! Hmm… maybe flip and grill the skin side a bit more might help?
Hi Nami, thank you for sharing and posting this recipe. I bought a very fresh mackerel from the farmer’s market yesterday morning and was so excited to chance upon your recipe. The sake was really helpful in masking the fishy smell of mackarels and I followed the instructions to a T, making sure to even slice my fish in half and placing them skin side down on the parchment paper. My family loved the sweet taste of the fish and I will definitely be making many more mackarels!
Hi Lea! Awesome!! So lucky to get fresh mackerel and I’m jealous! Thanks so much for trying this recipe. So glad you and your family had a wonderful meal. Thank you for your kind feedback. xoxo
Hi Nami, thank you for your answer, will try it out.
We just love your recipes and use them regularly. Even though it is not that easy to get all the ingredients here in Germany:-)
Hi Sylvia! Thank you so much for using my recipes! I hope some day Japanese ingredients are easier to get. It wasn’t so easy here 20 years ago too (not that it would take 20 years for you….). 🙂
Hi,
Thank you for the recipe. mackerel can be challenging (past experience) so your guidance is very appreciated. I was am curious: can mackerel, similar to salmon, also be salted for 2+ days to purposely firm up the flesh?
Hi Don! Thank you for your kind words! Mackerel is known to go bad fast, which is why we probably don’t cook the same way as salted salmon. Mackerel needs to be cooked or consumed (as sashimi) soon. 🙂
Not sure what I did wrong..mackerel came out super dry
Hi Michael! Thanks for trying this recipe… I am not sure why – such a simple recipe too. Did you use a convection bake (fan)? Unless stated “convection”, most recipes online is regular bake (no fan). If you use a convection oven, it makes sense it could be dry… plus the oven temperature needs to be adjusted by reducing 25 ºF if you use convection oven.
I have made this twice and it is delicious:) thank you! I live in singapore and japanese daikon here costs an arm and a leg ($15 for one!) And it also is hardfor me to use up the entire thing. But i would like to make oroshi to go with the saba. May I know if there are any alternative options?
Hi Sharon! There are a lot of daikon recipes in Japanese cooking that you can probably use up the whole thing (https://www.justonecookbook.com/search/?q=daikon). I would say you can skip the grated daikon if you only need it for this recipe. It’s nice to have, but not necessary.
Also you can grate daikon and freeze it in the ice cubes too, in case you end up buying it. 🙂
Oh ok! Freezing sounds like a good idea. Thank you so much! Esp for all your amazing work on this awesome blog! 🙂
Thanks Sharon!
Hi Nami,
The mackerel I bought (in a prepackaged foam plate) says “Salt Mackerel”, does that mean it’s already salted or salty? Should I vary your direction with regards to the marination time with salt?
Thank you. I look forward to trying this recipe … we love it in restaurants.
Tami
Hi Tami! It’s been salted, so you just need to broil/bake. 🙂