Cook Your Catch – Kanpachi Carpaccio – Banded Rudderfish
Eugene L. 03.31.25
For the most part, a lot of Amberjack species (Seriola sp.) get a bad rap regarding their quality as table fare in the US. While they are all incredible fighters at any size, besides the Yellowtail (Seriola lalandi) on the West Coast, most are considered a darker, fishier meat that usually ends up in the smoker or fryer. Well, I want to show that when treated right, Seriola sp. as a whole can make for great table fare, especially when it comes to sushi and sashimi. While on a wahoo trip while bait fishing, I caught a larger specimen of banded rudderfish (Seriola zonata). So I bled it out right away and then gutted it out before putting it in the slush with one recipe in mind for this guy. Kanpachi Carpaccio, a dish of thinly sliced kanpachi (amberjack sp.) with serano peppers and ponzu sauce. This is a super easy recipe to make and is a great appetizer for any sort of sushi night.
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Kanpachi Carpaccio – Banded Rudderfish – Ingredients
- Kanpachi Loin (Banded Rudderfish)
- Serrano Pepper
- Ponzu Sauce
All you need besides the kanpachi is some ponzu and a serrano pepper. For preparing the serrano pepper, all you have to do is slice it very thinly and try to remove as many of the seeds as possible. I would recommend you try a slice of the serrano pepper as you are cutting them to check how hot they are. Serrano peppers can be pretty hot, so just be aware of that when making this dish. At this point, stick the plate you are going to serve the carpaccio on into the freezer to chill it.
Once you have the serrano peppers sliced, it is time to work on the banded rudderfish fillets. Take your skin-on kanpachi fillets and split them in half, as shown below. When making this cut, you want to remove the pin bones as well. Splitting the fillets like this makes the next step of skinning the fish a lot easier and cleaner.
Once you have skinned the kanpachi loins, you want to trim down the bloodline with a very sharp knife. I used my yanagiba slicing knife to do this step. Take multiple smooth strokes with your knife to shave off the bloodline. You don’t have to remove all the bloodline, but I recommend removing at least a good portion of it. Especially if you are more sensitive to “fishyness”.
Once you have your trimmed kanpachi loins, it is time to start slicing the fish. Take the loin of fish and place it skin side down, with the split edge up and away from you. This positioning will help you make easier and cleaner cuts when slicing your fish.
To make the slices for the kanpachi carpaccio, use the sharpest knife you have, preferably something at least 10″ long. Take the knife and start slicing at an angle with the heel of the knife in one smooth motion. While slicing, use your non-dominant hand to apply a bit of pressure with a couple of fingers to the fish being sliced. You don’t want to saw back and forth with the knife, nor do you want to go too slow. As you cut through the fish, when you are almost through the fillet, slightly turn your knife more vertically and cut down to finish off the slice. For carpaccio, the thinner your slices, the better. Additionally, as you are cutting the fish, adjust the angle of your cut to accommodate the fillet getting narrower towards the tail. This lets you keep your pieces a more consistent size.
Take your chilled plate and start placing your pieces of rudderfish in an even pattern. It’s easier to start in the middle and work out, keeping the same orientation of the slices of fish. I prefer not to overlap the pieces for this presentation, but that’s just because I like how it looks this way. It does not change how the dish will taste.
Once the banded rudderfish is all plated, take your thinly sliced pieces of serrrano pepper and put one onto each piece of fish.
Once you have placed all the serrano pepper slices on the banded rudderfish pieces, liberally pour on the ponzu sauce. Just try not to splash the serrano pepper slices off the fish as you do this. Once the ponzu sauce has been poured on the fish, you are ready to serve your Kanpachi Carpaccio.
Side note: This recipe can be done with any of the amberjack species, but I prefer doing this with banded rudderfish, amberine, and almaco jacks. While greater amberjack works as well, the larger size limit makes the process of preparing the loins a little different. The name Kanpachi is Japanese for amberjack, but technically, all of these fish are amberjacks. Whichever species you choose, make sure to bleed and gut the fish as soon as possible.
