Tuna Zuke Don (マグロ漬け丼）is a rice bowl dish with marinated Tuna. Fresh Sashimi tuna is flavored in a savory soy sauce-based sauce, and placed on top of Steamed Rice. It is really easy to make, but you can taste this restaurant-quality dish at home.
Marinating raw fish is a cooking method used for hundreds of years. When refrigeration was not available, that was a way to be able to keep raw fish safe to eat. Fish like tuna can go bad easily if not processed and prepared properly after it’s caught. The salt and air-blockage of the sauce act to preserve food, and marinated fish lasts longer than raw fish. This marinade sauce has a wonderful savory flavor too, and it gives the dish a delicious taste. Soy sauce by itself may be too salty for Zuke sauce, so some sweetness and other flavorings are needed. Sake and Mirin are great additions, but they do have alcohol in them. It is better to remove the alcohol and its harsh taste first by boiling.
Tuna in the sauce can be good in the fridge for a couple of days, but it’s better to be eaten as fresh as possible. If marinated too long, it gets too salty and changes the texture of the fish. Keep in mind also that the sauce will not kill bacteria, so using fresh Sashimi grade tuna to start is very important (markets should prepare and keep their Sashimi grade fish ready to be eaten raw).
When you find good fresh tuna for dinner, but couldn’t eat it that night, then marinate it (as a block) before you go to bed. And you’ll have a wonderful lunch next day. Hope you enjoy it!
Tuna Zuke Don
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Ingredients
- 7 oz Tuna Sashimi grade
- 4 Shiso leaves
- 2 cups Steamed Rice
- Nori roasted seaweed shredded
- 1 tsp sesame seeds
- Wasabi
Instructions
- Make Zuke sauce. Combine all the ingredients in a small pot and let boil for a minute. Pour into a small container and cool.
- Slice Sashimi grade tuna thinly, and marinate in the Zuke sauce for 20 minutes. Keep refrigerated until using it.
- Cut Shiso leaves very finely.
- Serve 1 cup steamed rice in a bowl. Top with Nori roasted seaweed on the rice. Place half of the marinated tuna on top. Spoon some of the Zuke sauce over. Sprinkle sesame seeds on the tuna. Put a small mound of cut Shiso leaves in the middle, and add Wasabi. Assemble another one.
Video
