Hyugadon (Sesame Marinated Tuna Bowl)

In Japan, some of my favorite comfort food dishes were created by the fishermen or farmers who work directly with the ingredients. This creates a culture of hyper-local regional specialties that most Japanese people have never heard of unless they've spent time in the area. I was born in Miyazaki prefecture on the southern island of Kyushu, but Oita is our neighbor to the north, and I've been there many times. Hyugadon (ひゅうが丼) is a local specialty said to have been created by deep-sea tuna fishermen looking for a quick meal on the boat.

What makes this bowl special is the marinade. In Kyushu, we often use a sweet soy sauce for sashimi called amakuchi shoyu (甘口醤油). Since it can be hard to find outside of Kyushu, I replicate it with a combination of regular soy sauce, mirin, and kokutou (dark brown sugar). This gets paired with nutty ground sesame seeds and an egg yolk, which adds richness and body to the sauce so it clings to each slice of tuna. This style of marinating raw fish is called zuké (soaked), and Hyugadon fits into a category of rice bowls called zukédon.

Beyond seasoning, the marinade firms up the texture of the tuna while it sits. This is especially helpful if you're working with frozen and defrosted tuna, which can turn spongy and watery.

The marinated tuna is delicious on its own, but what really brings everything together is how the sauce percolates down into the hot rice, seasoning it and creating this unified bowl where every bite will put a smile on your face. This technique works with other types of sashimi-quality fish too, like salmon, sea bream, or hamachi.