Sesame-Miso Maguro Sashimi Bowl

This past week, @universal_moms - 3 moms decided on a theme of FISH 🐠 recipes to continue the celebration of Spring and the past month of Easter. Therefore, in addition to the delicious recipes posted by Helena and Caroline, I hereby post a typical Japanese dish that is easy to assemble requiring almost no cooking (aside from the rice) - Sesame-Miso Marinated Maguro Sashimi Bowl!

Sashimi - fresh raw fish slices - is thoroughly enjoyed throughout the world, and is considered a very healthy dish. My personal favorite is Chutoro sashimi - medium fatty tuna. It isn’t the fattiest cut, a position held by Otoro (absolutely delicious, but at times a little too rich and heavy), but instead falls in 2nd place. Its marbled pink hue that is a cut from the tuna’s belly is enough to make my stomach rumble with joy! 🤤

In this recipe, to keep things light, I decided to use the Akami cut of Maguro (tuna), which is deeper red in color, more firm, lean and comes from the sides of the fish. It can be found in just about every Japanese sushi restaurant around the world, along with salmon sashimi.

For further information about the importance of TUNA for the Japanese, you can refer to this fascinating article detailing just how much this fish is revered in Japan! https://www.asahi.com/special/tsukiji/en/tuna/profile/.

Sashimi is normally served with a small bowl of soy sauce, and a dollop of wasabi paste (optional) for dipping. However, for this recipe, the sashimi is marinated in advance for around 30 minutes to 1 hour in a sesame-miso sauce, to further add some depth in flavor. It is a perfect refreshing dish for the warmer weather!

INGREDIENTS:

SERVES: 1 person

MARINADE:

1 tbsp Miso paste

1/2 tbsp White sesame seeds (ground)

1 tbsp Mirin

1 tbsp Sake

1.5 tbsp Soy sauce

TOPPINGS:

100 g Maguro (akami cut)

3 Shiso leaves (perilla - washed and patted dry)

Broccoli sprouts

Extra white sesame seeds (toasted in a pan)

1 cup Cooked rice (cooked until barely warm)

METHOD:

1) Prepare the marinade by mixing together soy sauce, mirin, sake, miso paste and ground sesame.

2) Slice the Maguro into 1 cm thick slices and lay flat in a dish.

3) Pour marinade over the fish slices and flip the slices over so they are completely covered in sauce. Cover and refrigerate for around 30 mins to 1 hour.

4) Prepare a medium-sized bowl and fill with cooked rice.

5) Remove tuna from fridge. Place 3 shiso (perilla) leaves on top of the rice, followed by the marinated tuna slices. Top with a bit more sauce, broccoli sprouts and toasted sesame seeds.