Maguro many ways - Maguro Tartar, Maguro Carpaccio with Salsa Cruda, Maguro-Natto Don, and Maguro Yamakake

For this past Valentines Day, we picked up a nice 1 pound piece of Maguro in LA. A nice splurge for us. I was going to come home and do the usual thing......

The Missus however, had other ideas, and wanted something new. I was told that there would be no more this:

And don't even think about making that:

I guess I'd been going "to the well" much too often, and I don't blame the Missus of being tired of poke and crusted maguro..... So what to do?

While staring at my Maguro, some ideas entered my mind. We'd stretch the block into four dishes, starting with some fancier dishes for lunch, followed by some more traditional preparations for dinner. This would even solve the "tuna dilemma"...... just about everytime we'd buy Maguro, there would be a nice portion that is pristine, dark and deep red. But there's always a bit of the tough and fibrous parts as well. By planning out the meal a bit, I could utilize the maguro more efficiently.

So for lunch, I made a Maguro Tartar, using my basic shoyu poke recipe, but utilizing a finer cut for my fish.

I mixed about 3 ounces of finely diced maguro with good quality shoyu, a few drops of ginger juice, 1/2 clove of garlic grated, 3 tablespoons of red onion brunoise, and sea salt. I placed the mixture in a clean Coral tuna can, and topped it with 1/2 small avocado diced, followed by 1/2 roma tomato, which was seeded, and diced.

The can was inverted over a plate, and the whole thing was "coaxed out". I garnished the dish with ground chili, scallions, and wasabi tobiko.

For my other dish, I decided to do a tuna carpaccio, topped with greens and a salsa cruda.

I made two plates, so I used about another 3 ounces of maguro, a total of four slices which I placed between plastic wrap and pounded paper thin.

The salsa cruda consisted of red onion brunoise, capers which were rinsed, than coarsely chopped, cucumber brunoise, kalamata olives brunoise, 1/2 serrano chili minced, and tomato brunoise. This was mixed with some good quality extra virgin olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice for some acid. Sea salt and some lemon zest completed the salsa cruda. The paper thin slices of tuna were placed gently on the plate, topped with the salsa cruda, and finished off with mixed greens tossed with extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice. Served with some toasted baguette, this filled out our fairly light lunch.

For dinner we wanted something more substantial, and the Missus decided She wanted Maguro-Natto Don, a tuna and natto rice bowl. The Missus and I often order this from Izakaya Sakura.

This was pretty easy, and I think you can figure out what is what here.

I did flavor the maguro with some soy sauce, sea salt, and ginger juice. The natto rested on some shiso leaves. I heated the natto slightly and added a touch of soy sauce, and topped it with a chiffonade of shiso leaves and shredded nori. Dabs of both prepared wasabi and hot mustard were provided for extra zip.

My dinner consisted of themaguro yamakake and rice. I used the lower grade portion of the maguro, which I mixed with soy sauce and scallions. I topped the whole thing with a good amount of grated yamaimo, which made it nice and "snotty". A topping of shredded nori and a dab of hot mustard finished things off. This was gooey-snotty heaven, and the yamaimo even tasted a bit sweet.

 Grated yamaimo (tororo) is fairly substantial, and combined with the maguro and rice, was a filling, and satisfying end to the block of tuna.

So 1 pound of tuna, four dishes, two meals, and undoubtedly an increased mercury level.........  

Comments

[sawyer]

first! haha =p

nice ideas/beautiful presentation! had to look up what brunoise meant =p i esp like the tartar...and will have to look up and try your poke recipe soon!

[Sandy]

I would be happy to eat the Missus' share of poke and crusted maguro!

Nice presentation on your four dishes, too.

[Kirk]

Hey Sawyer - It's a very simple recipe. BTW, Marukai in West Covina has decent quality maguro.

Hi Sandy - I'll remember that next time! ;o)

[Rosa]

And whatever Sandy doesn't eat, I will!

Though the natto... =/ I haven't tried that yet but my Japanese coworker says it's an...um..."acquired" taste.

[Lynnea]

impressive! all those dishes look so tempting.

What brand of Natto do you use?

[nhbilly]

No wonder the Miss stick around. ;-)

[Kirk]

Hi Rosa - I'd agree, it's a pretty acquired taste..... but you eat Den Jang, right?

Hi Lynnea - We really haven't found a brand we like, and are still going from brand to brand. We may end up making our own natto.

Hi Billy - LOL! he-he-he..... that must be the reason.

[Sandy]

I won't be leaving any leftovers for Rosa or anyone else!

I may have commented on it before, but I just noticed that we have the same Mikasa plate as in the crusted maguro picture.

[Kirk]

LOL Sandy! We bought some mix and match Mikasa stuff from the "outlet" center in the rear of Mikasa stores, so we have a bunch of mismatched Mikasa plates.

[Rosa]

I do but rarely now. I don't really cook much Korean food at home due to the Husband being an unadventurous eater (sigh) *AND* picky. :P

Is the flavor/texture similar?

[kat]

great way to use 1 pound! my uncle used to marinate leftover sashimi in ginger, soy and a little mirin, then put onto hot rice and pour hot tea over everything, maybe you could try it next "winter" :)

[joey]

I've made natto. Still hit or miss for me. You can get the spores from Gem Cultures. You can even try using a frozen package you buy as a starter and I have done it that way. I'm not Japanese or Asian. But I love it the common Japanese way which is with soy sauce and scallions quickly stirred in till you see gooey gooey natto threads. Other possible add ins -- chopped garlic or onion, cayenne, ginger juice, miso.

I used a 15 watt light bulb in my stove's oven to maintain the proper temperature. Smaller the soybean the better chance of the natto bacterial action penetrating the entire bean. In Japan they select special smaller natto soy beans

You can freeze natto without diminishing the quality so making a large batch is a good idea.

[Kyle]

Just curious what is a good quality shoyu. I use Aloha or Yamasa.

[Kirk]

Hi Rosa - I think it's the texture, or to be more precise the anticipation of a certain texture, since it's kinda brown and slimy looking, with stringy "stuff". The flavor isn't like Den Jang, but it has that fermented flavor.

Hi Kay - My Mom loved Chazuke, so maybe one of these days....

Hi Joey - Yes, I was looking into picking up some spores.... there's a place in San Diego that sells them.

Hi Kyle - You can start with premium whole bean Kikkoman.... and go up from there. I've used Yuasa a couple of itmes though I think it's much too expensive. It's tastes way different from the regular stuff. I use Aloha for my marinades, and for basic poke, but good shoyu for my shoyu poke.

[Dennis]

Hi Kirk, definitely going to try that tartare recipe one of these days! And how funny is it that the can used was tuna.. :)
Weird I just picked up a 3-pack of natto tonight and came home and read your post. Making your own sounds fun and I bet Sammy and Frankie would love it!(?)

[nhbilly]

I feel the same way too sometimes. I'm only good for the food I make. LOL

[joey]

Local spores! good
Buy soybeans that are small. They come in different sizes.

Black soybeans are also good for natto. I see black beans in Oriental marts that sure look like black soybeans but due to language barriers I could not get a definitive answer. Now that I think about it I could buy them and just from the way soybeans cook up I could probably tell if they were black soybeans or just black beans of some kind

[foodhoe]

awesome looking Valentines day feasting... and you had both natto and yamakake? Very fine dining indeed...

[Kirk]

Hi Dennis - This one is easy..... it is kinda ironic, that I used a tuna can.... I'm not sure Sammy or Frankie will take to natto..... that'll be a funny one.

LOL Billy! I'm just a vessel from which food appears....

Hi Joey - Yes, I usually use the smaller dried soy beans when I make tofu.

Hi FH - I had maguro on my hands..... and I wanted something rather easy.

[Lynnea]

Kirk, this is why you are so great. I just knew you would say something about making your own Natto. It seems a bit daunting a task. We try new brands every time and non of them are particularly inspiring.