Grilled Hon Maguro Nodo ‘Tuna Throat’ Kasuzuke 本まぐろ ‘のど’ 粕漬け
What do you do when grilled ‘kama‘ fish collars no longer do it for you? Try fish throats! Yes, throat! (I had never even heard of this one.)
I spotted these beautiful slices of maguro tuna throats in the store the other day and knew I had to try them. I packed them in sake kasu to make kasuzuke and then grilled them. They were heavenly!
Nodo, literally ‘throat’, denotes innards, but maybe chin or neck might be more like it. The cut would appear to be back from the mouth and between the gills.
I wasn’t sure what this would be like. Would it be sinewy and gross, or over the top rich and creamy? We were not disappointed!!
Maguro Tuna Throat
This is yakizakana (grilled fish) that has been marinated in sake kasu for several days.
Steps
- Wipe fish clean
- Rub with salt
- Pack in sake kasu (sake kasu may need sake or cooking sake added to increase liquidity)
- Wrap and place in refrigerator for at least 24 hours (we waited 4 days, quite long)
- Wipe sake kasu from fish with fingers and/or paper towel
- Grill slowly (the fish has a lot of sugar in it now from the kasu, so be careful not to let it burn)
1. Marinate in Sake Kasu
Maguro Tuna Throat: Packing in Sake Kasu
Maguro Tuna Throat: Packing in Sake Kasu
Maguro Tuna Throat: Packing in Sake Kasu
2. Wipe and Prepare for Grilling
Japanese say that the fish should be wiped clean, but not washed with water. A very small amount of sake kasu will remain.
Maguro Tuna Throat: Ready for Grilling
Maguro Tuna Throat: Ready for Grilling
3. Grilling
The key is to not let it burn which easily happens with kasuzuke and misozuke, teriyaki for that matter too, as there is a good deal of sugar content in and on the fish.
Maguro Tuna Throat: Grilled and Ready to Eat
Maguro Tuna Throat: Grilled and Ready to Eat
Maguro Tuna Throat: Grilled and Ready to Eat
How did it taste?
As mentioned above, this is very rich, fatty and creamy — like toro. The kasu fragrance is very ‘fruity’ and that remained even after grilling. This kasu is hand pressed so the amount of alcohol left in the kasu is fairly high. I marinated this tuna for several days so the alcohol also permeated the fish. Kasu has quite a bit of sugar as well.
After grilling, the sake (alcohol) taste and the fruitiness of the kasu is not cooked out, it is obvious. The sugar content reacts nicely with the richness of the fish as it grills.
It is quite an amalgamation of flavors: alcohol, fruity, sweet and fatty grilled fish. It is rich and luxurious and not something to make an entire meal of. This should be one part of a larger meal accompanied by rice, maybe some tsukemono or veggies and some alcohol or strong tea to wash it down.
And then, and then…how did it taste? c:
Also, I was just wondering…is there an option where you are notified by email when you get a reply? Because sometimes I go back to older articles on which I commented to find that I got a reply I didn’t know about, and feel ridiculous replying to comments from ages ago!
Hello Arun, Oh, I forgot the taste! Sorry! I will add it above. Thanks. About subscribing to comments, there is an excellent plugin for WP that does that, as you probably well know. However, the theme that I am using will not support that plugin. I am planning to change the theme pretty soon to something more original and sexy. Adding that feature is on my to do list. Please be patient and bear with me. Thank you!
Where do you get maruro nodo from? Can’t wait to see your sexy theme!
Hey there Tokyofoodcaster,
The maguro nodo came from Fuji Daimaru in Kyoto which has the best selection of pert’near anything yummy available in Kyoto at a reasonable price. (See my Open Kyoto post about the department stores of Kyoto for details.)
Now that I have read your comment I am really looking forward to seeing the KF sexy theme too! After I saw your comment, I decided that it going to have buxom blond maguro tuna (O-toro) in bakinis as part of the visual motif. Now is that ‘Kyoto’, or what?