Katsuo Sashimi

Katsuo, called bonito, or as my fishmonger husband says, skipjack tuna, is a meaty fish. It's in the tuna family and is a good fish to try as sashimi if you are looking to go beyond tuna and salmon.

At the market it can be sold raw, as this is, or as tataki where it is seared or cooked over a straw fire until just the edges change color.

We put this over chopped iceberg lettuce and wakamé. It is garnished with garlic sliced thin on the Benriner, grated ginger, and minced shiso. We dress it with soy sauce, sesame oil, and rice wine vinegar.

Nobu-Style Ceviche Sushi Bowl セビーチェのバラちらしずし

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Our newest cookbook is Nobu's Sushi Cookbook, currently only in Japanese but anticipating the English version next year.

As I am married to a fishmonger hardly a day goes by without seafood. If it is fresh we'll have it as sashimi, which is often the case. So, as you can imagine, we love perusing Nobu's cookbook as his recipes include classic sushi as well as original recipes that are so appealing.

We love the tang and spice from Nobu's ceviche sauce. It is not at all like any flavors we are used to in Japan when we think of sashimi or donburi. The ceviche sauce includes lemon and yuzu juice, minced garlic, ginger juice, aji amarillo chile paste, and more. I am blessed to have a Peruvian friend in Sydney who visited Tokyo and knew all about Nobu's chiles and sent me some. Here is the aji amarillo that we used for the ceviche sauce.

Sweet fruit tomatoes, crisp cucumbers, and red onions add a nice contrast to the seafood  as well the bright cilantro. For sashimi we used flounder, salmon, tuna, and scallops. We couldn't find awabi and I am allergic to shrimp but those should also be included. What also makes this ceviche so simple is that the seafood is not marinated for a long time as traditional ceviches. We made a large batch of the ceviche marinade and used it as a dressing on thinly sliced tuna carpaccio topped with micro-greens and that also was a hit.

Look for Nobu's Sushi book in English this spring.

Katsuo Sashimi Platter

Not confident making sashimi? Do you find it challenging to make thin slices of raw fish for sashimi platters? Katsuo (bonito skipjack) or maguro (tuna) are two fish that are good to start with in the kitchen. These style of meaty fish have dense flesh and easy to work with. Best of all, when making a sashimi plate for a casual meal at home, one needn't concern themselves with presentation.

While I trained as a chef, when it comes to Japanese seafood I let Shinji do all of the work. This dish is one he put together in a few minutes. In Japan sashimi quality fish comes in different shapes and sizes. Katsuo and maguro often come in long saku filets. Best of all, these are boneless and just need to be sliced. Katsuo may be seared on the outside and sold as tataki-katsuo. The inside is still raw and eaten like sashimi.

Simply slice the katsuo in the thick cuts and lay on a plate. Top with roughly chopped leeks. Season with soy sauce. Shinji added a bit of Japanese mayonnaise and mustard on the side. That's it. Quick, easy, and delicious.

August Seasonal Sashimi

Shinji's father made this sashimi platter for dinner recently. On the top row on the left is tairagai (Japanese pen shell) with a rich texture and on the right is tachiuo (cutlassfish), a light whitefish.



In the middle row there is chutoro from tuna, aori ika (bigfin reef squid), and some sanma (Pacific saury) marinated in vinegar.



On the bottom row is sanma (Pacific saury) briefly marinated in vinegar and tako (octopus) from Hokkaido.