The summer heat and humidity descended last weekend and, not wanting to cook anything beyond rice, I thought it was the right time to experiment with maguro no tataki don, or minced raw tuna over rice, especially since June is apparently when maguro tastes its best. The quail egg addition was inspired by a dish I had at an izakaya in Osaka a few months ago. I've recently been eating a lot of myōga, a kind of ginger, so I sliced that up and threw it in, along with lots of green onions, some grated ginger and chopped shiso. The fresh taste of the herbs mixed with the buttery fish, the slippery egg and the hot rice was so good I ate it three times over the weekend. (In part because I didn't know what else to do with a dozen quail eggs.) I hearby proclaim it The Official Delicious Coma Dish of Early Summer 2006.
Some notes on ingredients: Myōga and shiso are both available at Japanese markets, but if you can't find them, you could substitute other leafy herbs. Shiso is said to taste a bit like a combination of basil and mint. Cilantro might also be good and would make me jealous because I can't buy cilantro here. Quail eggs can most likely be found at Japanese or Chinese markets; a fresh, organic chicken egg yolk could be substituted.
Maguro no tataki don (Minced Tuna and Herbs on Rice)
Serves 2
5 oz/150 g sashimi-quality raw tuna
1/2-inch piece of ginger, grated
1 1/2 Tbsp chopped green onion
1 myōga bud, thinly sliced
1 shiso leaf, thinly sliced
(or substitute 2 Tbsp fresh herbs for myōga and shiso)
1/4 tsp soy sauce, or to taste
1 cup freshly-cooked Japanese rice
1 quail egg or 1 organic chicken egg yolk
Using a very sharp knife, mince the tuna. (Or buy already-tataki-ed tuna from a Japanese grocery store. And yes, I did make up the word "tataki-ed.") In a small bowl, mix the tuna with the ginger, green onions and herbs. Add the soy sauce and mix.
Spoon the rice into two bowls and top with the tuna mixture. Make a small hollow in the middle and crack the egg into it. Serve with Japanese pickles and mugi-cha, cold barley tea.
mmmm....that looks deliciously weird...i'm enjoying the aspects of thai food. though i'm not so fond of the fish balls...
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