Make this Tekka Don recipe at home with sashimi-grade tuna (maguro) marinated in soy sauce, sake, and mirin and served over a bowl of steamed rice. This light and refreshing dish makes a quick and delicious dinner!
My husband has traveled out of town for a few days now and he won’t be back for another week. On days like this I prefer cooking meals that do not require tedious food preparation. After all, this is my little break from cooking multi-dish dinners! The kids and I have been eating one plate/bowl meals like soups, pasta, and Japanese rice bowls (donburi) such Tekka Don (Tuna Bowl).
Since the main ingredient of this dish is tuna, I hope you can buy good quality sushi/sashimi-grade tuna from a Japanese grocery store. You can buy a block of tuna and slice it into thin pieces yourself for this recipe (use a very sharp knife to cut sashimi). For today, I bought pre-cut tuna pieces called Maguro Butsugiri (chopped tuna). Usually, this part of tuna doesn’t look pretty enough to be used as sushi or sashimi. However, it’s just as tasty and more economical.
Serve with Clam Miso Sup, Pickled Cucumbers, and Pickled Daikon.
The best part is that it’s not only easy to makes since there is no actual “cooking” involved, but it’s really delicious and quite filling. If you’re not a fan of tuna, try Salmon and Ikura Don.
Other (Cooked) Donburi Recipes
If you are not a fan of raw fish then you can make other easy Rice Bowl dishes for quick dinner meals. So far on the blog, I have shared:
- Unagi Don (Unadon)
- Kakiage Don (Tempura Don)
- Chicken Katsu Don
- Pork Curry Don
- Teriyaki Pork Loin Salad Donburi
- Beef Donburi with Shiso Garlic Soy Sauce
- Soboro Don (Ground Chicken Bowl)
- Eggplant & Unagi Donburi
- Crispy Tonkatsu Donburi
- Oyakodon (Chicken & Egg Bowl)
- Gyudon (Beef Bowl)
- Chinese Style Karaage Don
- Unagi Chazuke
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Tekka Don (Tuna Bowl)
Ingredients
- ¼ lb sashimi-grade tuna (maguro) (thinly sliced or cut into small cubes/chunks)
- 1 serving cooked Japanese short-grain rice (typically 1⅔ cups (250 g) per donburi serving)
- 1 green onion/scallion
- ⅛ tsp toasted white sesame seeds
- shredded nori seaweed (kizami nori)
- 5 shiso leaves (perilla/ooba)
Instructions
- Before You Start: Gather all the ingredients. For the steamed rice, please note that ¾ cup (150 g, 1 rice cooker cup) of uncooked Japanese short-grain rice yields 2¼ US cups (330 g) of cooked white rice, enough for 1 donburi serving (1⅔ cups (250 g). See how to cook short-grain rice with a rice cooker, pot on the stove, Instant Pot, or donabe.
- To a bowl, add ¼ lb sashimi-grade tuna (maguro), 1 Tbsp soy sauce, 2 tsp mirin, and 1 tsp sake. Toss gently and marinate for 3–5 minutes.
- Place the tuna on top of 1 serving cooked Japanese short-grain rice that has been cooled down for 2–3 minutes.
- Sprinkle with 1 green onion/scallion (chopped), shredded nori seaweed (kizami nori), and ⅛ tsp toasted white sesame seeds. You can julienned 5 shiso leaves (perilla/ooba) and sprinkle them on top (optional). Serve immediately.
To Store
- Sashimi-grade tuna must be kept in the refrigerator and used within 24 hours.
Yum, such a great way to enjoy the special treat of a block of tuna! Fast and easy yet super special. Always a hit.
Hi John, We are glad to hear you enjoyed Tekka Don.
Thank you for trying Nami’s recipe and for your kind feedback!
Hi Nami! Thank you for posting this awesome recipe! My family loves sashimi. May I know if there’s a substitute for sake since I would prefer not to purchase a bottle due to the fact that I won’t be using it often.
Hi Dee! Are you planning to use mirin? If so, you can do equal amount of mirin and soy sauce. It shouldn’t be too different from the original recipe. 🙂 Hope you enjoy!
Hi hi, does this go well with cold soba?
Hi Glenise! Do you serve it on the side? Or on top? We don’t really serve raw fish/sashimi on top of soba noodles, but small plate of sashimi is often served as an appetizer before the main dish (soba). 🙂
Hope this helps!
I just love your site thanks so much for sharing
Thank you so much Georgette! 🙂
Hi Nami,
I made this today and it was simply fantastic for entertaining during a summer lunch! This is definitely going to be a staple for the rest of summer/year!!
Thank you!!
Thank you so much for your feedback Vivi! When it’s hot day and too lazy to cook or eat, this is a really nice dish. 🙂 Thanks for trying this recipe!
I just made this for dinner – it was soooo delicious! I am thankful I live in Japan and can get fresh, melt-in-your mouth tuna anytime!!
Hi Danielle! Oh you are so lucky! You have no problem getting ingredients. 🙂 I’m glad you enjoyed it. This is one of the easiest meal at home! Thank you so much for your feedback. 🙂
I made this recipe for dinner with fresh scottish salmon. The seasoning is simply perfect, it gently ehances the taste of fish. It’s so easy to prepare but the result is “luxurious”. Thank’s Nami!
Hi Serena! Glad to hear you liked the recipe! Yes it’s true, very easy to make the meal and it’s a nice meal! 🙂 Thank you for your feedback!
Hi Nami,most of your recipes include soya sauce
was wondering suppose to be Light Or Dark Soya
Sauce?
Thanks!
Hi Rena! Japanese soy sauce doesn’t have light or dark kind. We have Usukuchi soy sauce which is a weak flavor and light color one, but the consistency is about the same. You can use regular soy sauce (Koikuchi soy sauce) for this. Hope this helps! 🙂
Absolutely gorgeous plating. How long does the tuna have to marinate? This recipe will be on the menu this week – we live by the ocean and fresh, fresh, fresh seafood is always available.
Hi Barbara! Thank you for noticing. I updated my recipe, but you just need to marinade 3-5 minutes. If you prefer to make it saltier maybe 30 mins at most? For my kids, I just mix it up and take it out. Hope this helps. I’m so jealous of your area which gets fresh seafood!!
I love tuna! Is this also the same marinade used to make tuna poki?
Hi Candice! No, it’s different, but this one is even simpler. 🙂
Oishi Oishi
! So easy and so delicious. My six year old grandson loves maguro and thats what he wants when we go to dinner at our favorite Japanese restaurant. My granddaughter who is three loves inari and tomago. I will attempt your tomago recipe. Good thing there are pictures for that recipe. Thank you so much for wonderful recipes.
Hi Nancy! My kids love sushi and sashimi too. 🙂 Good luck with Tamagoyaki. It requires some practice. I’ve been making since high school but sometimes I fail if I don’t make it for a while. 🙂 There are so many things to watch out for while cooking. Don’t give up if first attempt is not good. You will know what to improve next time. 🙂 Thank you so much for your kind feedback, Nancy!