Tai Chazuke
Servings 4
Ingredients
- 9 ozs (250g) sliced very fresh sashimi-grade tai (sea bream), cut sashimi style
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 3/4 tsp sansho (ground Japanese pepper), or to taste
- 3 cups firm, hot, freshly cooked Japanese white rice (can also use leftover or even cold rice)
- Kizami Nori (seaweed slivers) to taste
Dashi Stock (or use homemade)
- 2-1/2 cups water
- 1 tsp instant dashi granules
- 1/8 tsp salt
Instructions
- Separate the fish slices and place in one layer on a flat dish. Combine the soy sauce and sansho pepper and pour the resulting mixture over the fish. Marinate for 15 minutes, turning once or twice. Meanwhile, prepare the dashi stock by bringing the water, stock granules, and salt in a saucepan to a boil. Cover and keep the stock very hot.
- Just before serving, place the rice in four bowls and top generously with the seaweed. Place the fish slices on top of the rice in a sunburst pattern, covering the seaweed. Pour enough hot dashi stock over the rice, fish, and seaweed to nearly cover the fish. Lightly mix the result with your chopsticks and eat immediately. Tsukemono (pickled vegetables) are a nice accompaniment to chazuke.
Notes
Some other common toppings include Japanese pickles, umeboshi, sesame seeds, salted salmon, trefoil, scallions and wasabi.
If you decide to use good quality strongly brewed green tea instead of dashi stock, top with a generous dab of wasabi to taste after pouring the piping hot green tea over the rice/fish combo and eat immediately.