Faux-nagi with sablefish or eggplant

In 2008, Chefs Kin Lui, Raymond Ho, and Casson Trenor opened Tataki Sushi and Sake Bar in San Francisco’s Pacific Heights—the first sustainable sushi bar in the United States. Shizen is their vegan sushi bar & izakaya in San Francisco’s Mission District.

Tataki’s faux-nagi uses sablefish, which Seafood Watch rates green or yellow depending on the source. Shizen's recipe uses eggplant. Both use a sweet soy-mirin sauce: one with dried fish flakes, the other with dried shiitake mushrooms. Make one or both to impress your guests at your next dinner party!

Recipes by Chefs Kin Lui, Raymond Ho, and Casson Trenor

Tataki’s sablefish faux-nagi

Ingredients

• 3-pound sablefish fillet
• 2 pieces konbu
• Sea salt
• Sake for moistening the konbu
• Sesame seeds

Soy-mirin sauce ingredients

• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup sugar (or a substitute like stevia, adjusted to taste)
• 3 tablespoons mirin
• 3 tablespoons sake
• 1 handful katsuobushi (dried skipjack tuna flakes caught by pole-and-line)
• 1/2 cup water
• Potato starch

Preparation

1. Dust both sides of the sablefish fillets with sea salt. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate. Let sit for 15 to 20 minutes.
2. Remove fillets and unwrap. Wash the salt off the fillets with very cold water. Blot dry with a paper towel.
3. Wet a new paper towel with sake. Use this towel to moisten the konbu. Sandwich the sablefish between the two pieces of sake-moistened konbu. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate. Let sit for 30 to 40 minutes. Unwrap, remove konbu, and return to the refrigerator.
4. In a saucepan, mix soy sauce, sugar, mirin, sake (3 tablespoons), katsuobushi, and water (3 tablespoons). Bring to a boil, lower heat, and simmer (about 10 minutes). Drain and remove the katsuobushi. Set soy-mirin sauce aside.
5. In a small bowl, combine cold water and potato starch at a 4:1 ratio. Stir to create a thickener.
6. Return soy-mirin sauce to a boil, lower heat to a simmer, cover, and cook for 30 minutes.
7. Add potato starch thickener to the soy-mirin sauce little by little, as necessary, until desired consistency is reached.
8. Remove from heat and let cool.
9. Slice sablefish into portions (as appropriate for nigiri, sashimi, or whatever dish is being served). Lightly char one side of the fish with a small butane torch (or sear very briefly in a hot skillet). Top the fish with a drizzle of the soy-mirin sauce and a sprinkle of sesame seeds. Serve atop rice or as desired.

Shizen’s eggplant faux-nagi

Ingredients

• 2 Japanese eggplants (as straight and dark-colored as possible)
• 3 cups mirin
• 1 cup sake
• 1 1/2 cups soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon grated ginger
• Neutral oil
• Sesame seeds

Soy-mirin sauce ingredients

• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup sugar (or a substitute like stevia, adjusted to taste)
• 3 tablespoons mirin
• 3 tablespoons sake
• 5 dried shiitake mushrooms
• 1/2 cup water
• Potato starch

Preparation

1. Slice eggplant into nigiri-sized pieces (3 1/2 inches by 3/8 inch, diagonal cut). Fry in neutral oil over medium-high heat for 60 seconds, then flip and fry for 60 seconds on the other side. Remove from the pan and place into a bowl. Set aside.
2. In a pot, combine 3 cups mirin with 1 cup sake. Bring to a boil and light the liquid on fire with a torch or match. Continue boiling until the fire is out. Once the fire is out, remove the pot from the heat and add 1 1/2 cups soy sauce, 1 teaspoon minced garlic, and 1/2 teaspoon grated ginger. Stir well. Add eggplant to the mixture. Let sit for 10 minutes, so the eggplant absorbs the marinade.
3. In a saucepan, mix soy sauce, sugar, mirin, sake (3 tablespoons), dried shiitake mushrooms, and water (3 tablespoons). Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer (about 10 minutes). Drain and remove the shiitake. Set soy-mirin sauce aside.
4. In a small bowl, combine cold water and potato starch at a 4:1 ratio. Stir to create a thickener.
5. Return soy-mirin sauce to a boil, lower heat to a simmer, cover, and cook for 30 minutes.
6. Add potato starch thickener to the soy-mirin sauce little by little, as necessary, until desired consistency is reached.
7. Remove from heat and let cool.
8. Top eggplant with a drizzle of the soy-mirin sauce and a sprinkle of sesame seeds. Serve atop rice as nigiri, or as desired.

Meet the chefs

Kin Lui grew up in Hong Kong and Hawai‘i and started cooking at 16. He trained under the master sushi chef at Kyo-ya in San Francisco. Kin’s sushi blends Hawaiian and Asian traditions.

Raymond Ho was born and raised in Hong Kong. After moving to San Francisco, he worked as a pastry chef and a teppanyaki chef before turning to sushi. Raymond is known for artful dishes rooted in Japanese tradition.

Casson Trenor is a seafood sustainability expert who works to make the U.S. sushi industry more sustainable. He's the author of Sustainable Sushi: A Guide to Saving the Oceans One Bite at a Time.

Find Tataki on Instagram @tatakisf and Shizen @shizensf.