Sardine Kabayaki Donburi

Remove the pits from the umeboshi and pound them well with a knife into a paste. Ume cuts the oily taste of blue-backed fish.

Put the pounded ume in a bowl and add 2 tablespoons each of sake, mirin, and soy sauce, plus 1 tablespoon of sugar. Mix well to dissolve the sugar and make the kabayaki sauce.

Cut the shiso leaves into thin strips to use as a garnish.

Prep the sardines. Cut off the heads at an angle, slice the belly straight off, and scrape out the innards. Laying down newspaper keeps the cutting board clean.

Rinse the sardines under water. A toothbrush dedicated to cleaning fish bellies comes in handy.

Butterfly the sardines by hand. Slide your thumb along the backbone all the way to the tail to open the fish, then pinch the bone at the tail end, pull it out, and tear it off by hand. Remove the dorsal fin by hand as well.

Shave off the belly bones with a knife and tidy up the butterflied fillets.

Lightly dust the butterflied sardines all over with potato starch and shake off any excess. The coating gives a crisp finish and helps the sauce cling.

Heat the frying pan thoroughly and add about 1 tablespoon of oil. Once the oil runs thin, lay the sardines in skin side down and cook over medium heat for 2 minutes. Leave them alone at first and let them cook slowly.

Flip the sardines and cook for 2 minutes more, 4 minutes total, until nicely browned. Watch the heat so they don't burn, and cook them without moving them around much.

Pour the prepared sauce over the cooked sardines and coat them, letting it reduce slightly.

Scatter shredded nori over the rice in the bowls and drizzle on a little sauce. Top with the cooked sardines, pour more sauce over them, and finish with white sesame seeds and the shredded shiso leaves.