Many years ago, when I lived in Victoria we used to frequent this Japanese retaurant called Zen sushi (or Sen Zushi). The soup had fish heads in it, the slabs of fish were so long they appeared to swim right off the nigiri, and they had this salmon donburi. The salmon don was unlike anything I had seen before or have found since. It’s been 7 years and I still think about it.
Donburi or don translates to rice bowl, and usually a salmon don means pieces of fish on rice. Instead, in their version the raw salmon had been tossed with a salty and fresh dressing which I have been wanting to replicate every since.
Unfortunately, the restaurant no longer exists so I can’t send you there, but instead why not be adventurous and try making this at home? If you are have trouble finding sashimi grade fish try your local japanese market, you should be able to find it frozen. RIP Sen Zushi.
Salmon Don
(4 servings)
Prepare and defrost the salmon as you would for sushi. (What I do is to defrost the sashimi-grade fish the morning of the night I plan to use it. ) Make, cool and season the sushi rice. (Jaden did a great job of this over at Steamy Kitchen so I won't repeat myself.)
Slice the green onions as thinly as humanly possible, if your knife isn't sharp you are going to macerate the raw fish so I advise sharpening your knife. Toss one tablespoon of the green onions with the ginger, mirin and rice wine vinegar. You can do this ahead of time.
Now, right before you are ready to eat prepare the salmon. (Directly before I am about to use the salmon I remove it from it's wrapper, give it a quick rinse and pat it dry with paper towels. I also trim off any bits of the fish that have obvious sinew or bloodline in them.) Slice it into very thin bite sized pieces. Toss in a small bowl with just enough sauce to well coat the fish.
Prepare each bowl by filling it with sushi rice. Divide the salmon equally among the bowls. With your remaining green onions, also toss them in the sauce and top each bowl with a tablespoon of dressed green onions. Serve immediately.
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
If you’re still craving sashimi don in Victoria, Daidoco makes fantastic ones and for under $10.
Rachel – good to know! What makes their Don particularly good?
I love this! So perfect on hot days, especially.
Belinda – totally, as long as you keep the fish on ice.
So how did this compare to Sen’s version?
L – it was about 95% of the way there. the sauce wasn’t thick enough but the flavours were bang on.
Is this the same marinade that is used over a longer period of time to make restaurant-style sushi?
Marquita – I am not sure? Are you talking about a specific kind of maki or maybe nigiri? Most nigiri just has a bit of wasabi between the raw fish and the rice. This is similar to a sauce sometimes added to saba nigiri?
Mmm looks so pretty. And mirin makes everything taste wonderful. Nice recipe.
Sasha – yes I love mirin too. I don’t use it nearly enough.
Great recipe for a great diner! Love it!
Thx a lot!
I love simple rice dishes such as this. Thanks for posting it.
Glad to hear it Lev & Emi
This is how ancient Japanese ate. Just 1 bowl of rice and the okazu (entree). Here in Hawaii, we’ve gone past that and eat 2-3 bowls each per meal. My mom is from Japan and she till this day eats in the old style.
Thats awesome to hear Kazikozo! I love it when I am more authentic then I think I am