Dishes from Yellowfin Tuna Sashimi Block キハダマグロ刺身の柵

We had a fairly large sashimi block of yellowfin tuna in our freezer from Great Alaska Seafood and time had come to finish it.  I planned to have the tuna 4 different ways. So we had the three dishes shown below one evening and had the fourth dish the next evening (tuna and avocado cubes).

#1: I made a portion of the block into a cutlet. I seasoned it with salt and pepper and breaded it in the usual way (flour, egg, and panko). I shallow fried it until the surface was all golden and crispy but the center was still raw. I did not make any special sauce and had it with Japanese mustard and tonkatsu sauce. I served it with baby arugula and some baby artichoke I prepared a few days ago dressed with olive oil. This was quite good and rather filling.

#2: Marinated “zuke” tuna and sashimi with Yuzu zest since we had one more “ao-yuzu 青柚子” we got from Suzuki Farm. For “zuke”, I did “yubiki 湯引き” (briefly plunged the tuna block into boiling water). This prevents the surface from becoming “soft” or “sticky and also slippery” during the marinating (Japanese call this “nettori ねっとり” . It may also reduce any fishiness if present. For the marinade, I took a short cut and just used x4 Japanese noodle sauce and marinated for 30 minutes. Besides yuzu zest, I served it with “yuzu kosho 柚子胡椒” and wasabi (both are from a tube). I served this with “cucumber and nappa cabbage asazuke きゅうりと白菜の浅漬け”. On the right, I served three slices of the tuna sashimi as is.

#3: Pseudo “negitoro ネギトロ” served with Korean nori seaweed. The addition of mayonnaise and soy sauce and finely chopped scallion make this tuna taste more like fatty tuna . I previously pontificated about negitoro. We like Korean-style seasoned nori with this dish. If I had it I served it with slices of fresh cucumber but we were all out of cucumber. (How did that happen?)

At this point, we were quite full and a ended with a piece of focaccia bread that I had baked few days ago, toasted and dipped in our favorite Spanish olive oil. Not quite a Japanese  “shime” ending but since we started with small snacks including cheese with red wine, this was a perfect ending for us.

Moon gazing 10/6/2025 月見

Mid autumn full moon or “Chushu-no-meigetsu 中秋の名月” happened this year (2025) on October 6. As usual, to celebrate, I made “moon gazing” mochi rice balls “Tsukimi-dango 月見団子”. In addition, I re-discoved that we had a rectangular plate that was decorated with hand-drawn “Kikyo 桔梗” flowers (shown in the picture below). Kikyo* is traditionally associated with “Tsuki-mi” because its buds are round like the moon and it’s blue flowers are star shaped. So this was the perfect plate on which  to serve the “Tsukimi-dango”. By the way, the autumn full moon this year was spectacular. It was a super moon.(This seasonal moon is called the Hunter’s moon in U.S.). It was big and bright even when in mid sky. Unfortunately, it was also a late riser this year not reaching its Zenith in the mid sky until 3AM.

*I learned that the English name for this flower which is balloon flower or “Platycodon”

As usual, we warmed up these dango in the microwave oven and served it with the traditional “mitarashi sauce” as a dessert.

This year, we also celebrated using the special sake glasses we got from Kitaichi Glass 北一グラス in Otaru 小樽, Japan. These may not be meant for drinking cold sake but for us they are perfect. As you can see they are nice deep blue with the traditional Japanese symbols for the moon; rabbits, falling stars and cherry blossom motifs on the sides.

The other side has a round transparent moon-like window from which you can see the rabbits with the shooting star on the other side of the glass. 

And rabbits with cherry blossoms.

And in the bottom of the glass you can see the rabbits running aroung the “moon”. (Too cute) 

While folks in the west typically refer to the figure seen in the moon as the  “man-in-the moon” according to Japanese folklore the figure is referred to as a rabbit pounding mochi. Therefore, rabbits are the symbol associated with the moon. So we thought it was entirely appropriate to use these glasses depicting rabbits for the moon gazing occasion.

Cucumber with Miso Sauces 味噌胡瓜

As far as we are concerned the best way to enjoy the fresh Japanese cucumbers we got from Suzuki Farm (see picture), is to eat the chilled fresh Japanese cucumber sticks with miso 味噌. Typically, the special miso called “Moromi-miso* もろみ味噌” is used and the entire dish is called “Moromi-kyuri もろみ胡瓜 or often abbreviated as “Moro-kyu” もろきゅう which I posted previously.

*Moromi-miso is meant to be eaten as a condiment rather than to be used for cooking or making soup. It has a liquid component mixed with ingredients such as soybeans and barley which are still visible in it.

I had some moromi-miso but it was fairly old. Upon tasting, I found it had oxidized so I couldn’t use it. Since I had already made two kinds of flavored miso from other ingredients we got from the Suzuki Farm, I used those flavored miso instead. On the left side I served “Yuzu” miso (dark) and “Kinome” miso (light). Although many Izakaya cut the cucumber into fancy shaped pieces for this dish (to justify the higher charges?), I just made it into sticks. One of the secrets to making this dish great is to chill the cucumber throughly in ice water before serving.

I served one cucumber between the two of us. It was extremely good and quite filling. The two kinds of miso I prepared were a great accompaniment. I thought the flavored miso tasted a bit better than the traditional moromi miso.

By the way, you can tell if a cucumber is fresh if the skin still has small prickles.

Although American mini-cucumber is a good substitute for Japanese cucumber, it is no comparison to a genuine Japanese cucumber. We were so happy to get these fresh Japanese cucumbers from Suzuki farm.

Spanish Mackerel dumpling Soup topped with “Kinome” Japanese pepper leaves 鯖のつみれ汁

This is a variation of “Mackerel meat ball soup 鯖のつみれ汁”. When I made “Mackerel simmered in miso sauce 鯖の味噌煮” from two fairly large Spanish mackerels we got from Whole Foods, I made mackerel fish balls from the meat I scraped from the bones and tail ends. Since we had left-over cooked udon noodles, tofu, shiitake mushrooms and “kinome 木の芽”, (Japanese pepper tree leaves/sprouts), I combined these to make a soup I served for lunch.  The smell/flavor of the kinome made it something special. We removed the individual leaves from the stem before adding them to the soup. (But left them on the stem to garnish as shown in the next picture.)

Here is the mackerel meat ball clearly visible next to the kinome.

This was quite a filling lunch. The addtion of kinome made it something specail.

Japanese “Mizu” eggplant Asazuke 水茄子の浅漬け

We got some Mizu-nasu 水茄子from Suzuki Farm. This is a special type of Japanese eggplant which can be eaten raw. I used one of them, to make asazuke. Instead of just salting the eggplant, I used a brine and also some threads of kelp called “Kizami Konbu 刻み昆布” to marinate it. We first tasted it after it had been marinating in the fridge for a few hours (#1). While that was good we liked it best after it had been marinating for one or two days.

This is how we received the eggplant from Suzuki Farm (#2). It was very fresh without any blemishes. After removing the stem end, I tore it lengthwise (#3) into pieces. Supposedly, the irregular surface this creates makes better asazuke but I am not sure.

Ingredients:
1 Muzu-nasu eggplant, stem end removed and torn lengthwise into several pieces (#3)

Brine:
200 ml water
1 tbs salt
1/2 tbs sugar
1/2 tbs rice vinegar
Dried kelp strings (kizami-konbu 刻み昆布) or small rectangle of dried kelp

Directions:
Mix the water, salt, sugar and rice vinegar for the brine until all the ingredients dissolve. Add the dried kelp. Add the brine into a Ziploc bag and add the eggplant.
Squeeze out the air from the bag as much as you can and let the eggplant marinate in the fridge for at least a few hours to a few days.

You could serve the eggplant with a garnish of bonito flakes, thinly sliced myoga or spring onions. You could also add soy sauce or ponzu sauce just before eating.