Marinated tuna sashimi or maguro zuke is a dish that features slices of fresh maguro tuna sashimi marinated in a savory soy-based sauce. “maguro” means tuna, and “zuke” comes from the phrase tsukeru, which means to soak or marinate. The maguro slices can be served as a side dish or a donburi over a bed of hot white rice. This recipe will give you a delightful marinated tuna sashimi with only a few ingredients and a few minutes.
Ingredients for Marinated Tuna Sashimi:
- Cooked rice – You can use premade, reheated frozen, or freshly cooked rice. If you have time to cook rice, that would be the best option. You can also season the rice to your liking. If you like sushi rice, a slightly sweet and tangy type of rice, add vinegar, sugar, and salt to your rice. I kept my rice plain as the flavors of the maguro were enough.
- Maguro sashimi – I get sashimi-grade maguro or tuna from my local Japanese grocery store. I recommend getting fresh sashimi-grade maguro as we are consuming this raw.
- Soy sauce – I am using Japanese soy sauce from Kikkoman.
- Dried kombu -Dried kombu or dried sea kelp is added for additional flavors. I recommend getting this item.
- Cooking sake -if you cannot get a hold of this, you can substitute it with water; however, the flavor will be different.
- Mirin – mirin is sweet sake. I highly encourage this item as it adds flavor and sweetness.
Ingredients mentioned in this recipe:
You can find these at Japanese grocery stores and most Asian grocery stores.
- Japanese Grocery market (Mitsuwa, Nijiya, Tokyo Central)
- Asian Grocery markets (H-Mart, 99 Ranch)
- Asian isle at your local grocery market
- Amazon (links to some of my favorites below)
Tips on making the best Marinated Tuna Sashimi
- Marinating time – The marinating time affects how flavorful and salty the tuna sashimi becomes. The longer it sits in the sauce, the more it will absorb the flavors. 1-2 hours is enough; however, if you like a strong taste, you can marinate it overnight. I will not recommend any longer time as it will get too salty.
- Fresh maguro – Since maguro is the star of this dish, the taste will be highly affected by the quality of maguro. Try to get a high-quality sashimi-grade tuna. I usually get mine at my local Japanese grocery market.
- Chilling sauce – Since we are using mirin and sake, which both have alcohol content, I like to boil the sauce to get rid of alcohol content. However, you only want to use the sauce once it is chilled because it can cook the tuna if you put it in boiling sauce. I put my sauce in the fridge to cool it down, or if you are in a rush, you can put it in the freezer for a few minutes.
Marinated Tuna Sashimi
This recipe will give you a delightful soy marinated tuna sashimi with only a few ingredients and a few minutes.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Soy sauce
- 1/4 cup Mirin
- 1/4 cup Sake
- 1 piece Dried kombu sea kelp
- 1 lb Maguro sashimi tuna sashimi
- 2 bowls Cooked rice
Optional topping
- Nori dried seaweed
- Chopped green onion
- Egg yolk
Instructions
- In a pot, combine soy sauce, mirin, and sake
- Let it come to a boil for about a minute and remove from heat
- In a separate bowl pour sauce and place a piece of kombu with it
- Place sauce in the fridge or freezer to cool the sauce. The sauce should be chilled entirely before use
- While the sauce is cooling down, slice tuna sashimi
- Once the sauce is chilled, place tuna slices in the sauce
- In the fridge, let it marinate in the sauce for 1-2 hours. Keep it in longer if you like a stronger taste; however, I don’t recommend longer than overnight
- In a bowl, place cooked rice
- Add marinated maguro sashimi pieces on top
- Top with toppings of choice
- Serve and enjoy
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