In Japan, tsukudani 佃煮 are small seafood or seaweed (nori, konbu, wakame, hijiki…) that have been simmered in Japanese shoyu soy sauce, mirin and sometimes sake. These condiments are delicious and powerful in the mouth. They go particularly well with plain Japanese rice. You can also incorporate them in the preparation of your onigiri, tamagoyaki or simply in an omelet which will instantly take a Japanese touch.
In Japan, they are also eaten in ochazuke (Japanese rice dish with green tea poured over it).
In this tsukudani recipe, we are going to use grilled nori seaweed leaves sold in supermarkets for sushi preparation.
If you have leftover seaweed and don’t know what to do with it, this recipe is for you!
Tsukudani 佃煮 recipe with dried nori seaweed
Equipment
- Casserole
- Japanese chopsticks
Ingredients
- 10 grilled Nori seaweed leaves for sushi
- 400 ml dashi
- 50 ml shoyu soy sauce
- 50 ml saké
- 2 tbsp mirin
Instructions
- Heat your dashi in a saucepan over medium heat.
- Tear your nori leaves into small pieces and add them to the pan containing the dashi. Stir with Japanese chopsticks for 5 minutes.
- When the nori leaves become thick, add the soy sauce, sake and mirin.
- Then lower the heat to low and cook until there is almost no liquid left.
- The tsukudani is ready, and can be stored in a glass jar in the refrigerator. However, let it cool down before storing it.
Our advice for consuming tsukudani
- To accompany your bowl of Japanese rice, a teaspoon of tsukudani is more than enough.
- They are a nice addition to a fried egg, a pan-fried vegetable… But you can also incorporate them in other Japanese recipes such as
- In our tamagoyaki recipe (Japanese omelette)
- In our onigiri (rice dumpling) recipe
- Or in our onigirazu (maki sandwich) recipe
If you want other quick recipes to accompany your Japanese rice, we advise you to read our article on the 10 express recipes to accompany your rice like in Japan.