By Martha Rose Shulman
- Total Time
- About 45 minutes, after 2 hours' refrigeration
- Rating
- 4(428)
- Notes
- Read community notes
If you’re concerned about which fish are environmentally safe to eat, you can’t do better than consulting the Web sites of the Monterey Bay Aquarium or the Environmental Defense Fund for their handy pocket guides for buying seafood (or choosing it in a restaurant). You won’t break the bank buying fresh fish, but there can be a better selection of moderately priced varieties in the freezer department. Among my findings were albacore steaks, one of the few types of tuna that we can still enjoy with a clear conscience, and a great fish if you’re trying to eat more omega-3s. This is a sweet/savory marinade that I also use for tofu. If you are concerned about the quantity of soy sauce, know that most of it stays behind in the bowl when you cook the fish. If you are using frozen albacore steaks, wait until they are partly thawed before marinating.
Featured in: Flavorful and Sustainable Fish
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Ingredients
Yield:4 servings.
- ¼cup low-sodium soy sauce
- 2tablespoons mirin (sweet Japanese rice wine)
- 1tablespoon seasoned rice vinegar
- 1tablespoon minced or grated fresh ginger
- 1teaspoon sugar
- 1tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
- 1½pounds albacore steaks
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
250 calories; 5 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 2 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 3 grams carbohydrates; 0 grams dietary fiber; 1 gram sugars; 43 grams protein; 651 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Step
1
Combine the soy sauce, mirin, vinegar, ginger and sugar in a bowl and whisk together well. Whisk in the sesame oil.
Step
2
Place the albacore steaks in a large bowl or baking dish and toss with the marinade. Cover the bowl, or transfer the fish and marinade to a large zip-top bag and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours, or longer.
Step
3
Prepare a hot grill, or heat a heavy cast-iron or nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Remove the fish from the marinade. Cook the steaks for 2 to 4 minutes on each side, depending on how well done you like the fish to be. Serve hot.
Ratings
4
out of 5
428
user ratings
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Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Tom Morales
I recommend using the marinade as a dipping sauce, instead. It's quite good but, used solely as a marinade, the flavor is muted. The next time I'll be grilling the fish with a light coat of sesame oil, then serving with the dipping sauce on the side.
Lisa
Delicious. I served with chopped scallions and a serrano pepper condiment I've been using on everything: gently poach serrano peppers in olive oil with a couple cloves of garlic and salt. When the peppers start to brown puree the whole thing. It paired well with the fish and added a little heat.
Dan Clements
Excellent recipe! We made just a couple of modifications after reading comments. First, a few minutes before cooking fish, placed marinade in a saucier to thicken it up and kill off any bacteria from raw fish. Spooned sauce on top of fish. Second, chopped some leaf parsley and sprinkled on top of fish with sauce. Really outstanding!
Garry George
add a dash of wasabi paste!
M
Apple vinegar also works well ... Adds a nice contrast to the sesame oil.
Jeff T
I got longer, thinner cuts from Sitka Salmon. I did the following and recommend the following:- I only had about 45 mins for the marinade. Could’ve used a true two hours.- The marinade was a bit bland. I doubled the recipe and pulled some aside for dipping, but added a generous amount honey to it to sweeten it up. Made all the difference. - I used Peanut Oil for the pan, which worked great.- Homestly, coulda used more salt as well. Consider full flavor soy sauce.
John Colm
I reduced soy a bit, added a bit of fish sauce, also added about 1/2 tsp wasabi powder.
Tim Meadows
I loved it!
Bri W
After reading the VERY helpful comments, I did half the fish (it was just the two of us) and still made the sauce as called for in the recipe with a tablespoon or so of wasabi added. Marinated overnight (life happens) and the flavor of the fish was actually quite good on its own, but the extra sauce certainly didn't hurt. Rice, sauteed king oysters, and oven roasted bok choy made it a delicious evening. Thank you to all the helpful commentators; dinner wouldn't have been the same without you:)
Bill
Use half of sauce for marinade and reserved other half to pour on fish to serve or to put in dipping bowls at table; cooking marinade after removing fish in order to kill bacteria adds extra work and time.Made full sauce recipe but with 1/4 tsp dark sesame oil not the 1 TBSP called for; the sesame flavor came thru just fine with only a amount; we and the dish would have been overwhelmed by 1 TBSP of sesame oil. Used no-sodium and moderate-sugar mirin, didn't need to add more sugar.
Elisabeth
As was suggested five years ago, using the marinade as a dipping sauce worked really well for me. I just brushed the fish with olive oil and lemon and broiled it.
Joe
Turned out very tasty! I used a dark soy sauce, which is less salty than light and lent a nice rich flavor. Marinated for about 1.5 hours and didn't find the flavors overpowering. Might add a little chili oil or similar next time!
Lydia
Found this too salty despite low sodium tamari....but realized the culprit: our Kikkoman mirin is super salty on it's own. I know sometimes "cooking wine" is salted partly so it can be sold as a condiment and not alcohol. I'm going to be sure to buy real mirin next time, not "cooking" mirin.
jen
I was looking for a way to cook sone rock fish I had and came across this recipe. The marinade was outstanding. I followed the advice of another poster and made extra as a sauce for dipping. Made roasted new potatoes and broccoli as a side. Baked marinated rock fish at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes.
my notes
Only had one hour to marinate and still came out well. Ginger and soy sauce taste.
Val
I had fresh albacore from the Oregon coast, and served this recipe charcoal grilled with a tomato and shiso leaf salad from the garden (dressed with a little ponzu and rice vinegar) and wasabi mashed potatoes. Great late summer meal for dining al fresco.
Diane K. Martin
Worked out well. I only marinated for half an hour, because that's the time I had, andI started out searing in a skillet, but when I turned it, I let it cook in the rest of the marinade. We like tuna fairly well cooked, not rare, so the liquid kept it tender; I guess I braised it.
Shwillary
This was quite an easy and enjoyable way to prepare tuna - I marinated the tuna steaks for much longer than directed (~6 hours) only because I needed to. Didn't adversely affect taste, and because I pan-seared I wasn't worried about the visual.I am so glad other notes overwhelmingly recommended using the marinade as a sauce. I reduced it for a few minutes, until thick enough to spoon - just keep in mind how salty a soy sauce reduction will be (I didn't use low-sodium). So good, so simple!
Sara Buckley
Easy and VERY tasty. Just have to have enough time to marinate the fish.
Julie J
We loved this. I followed the recommendation and used the marinade as a sauce instead of marinating the tuna. Served it on sushi rice with sesame sous vide broccoli, shredded carrots, and quick pickled cucumbers. Easy weeknight dinner that my fish averse husband loved.
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