Seafood Nuta (Miso Dressing) Two Ways

Nuta (ぬた or 饅) is a miso and vinegar based dressing. It is made with miso, vinegar and sugar, with or without Japanese mustard. One of the representative nuta is Tuna and Shallots (Scallions) Nuta. It is a great accompaniment for drinks, particularly sake. Miso dressing goes well with many different ingredients and you can be creative.

The name nuta comes from the word “numata” (沼田) which means marshy rice field. The texture of the sauce resembles numata, so they shortened it to name the dressing “nuta”. In olden days, they called all the sauces with similar texture “nuta” but now it refers to the miso and vinegar based sauce. You might hear people calling this sauce “sumiso” ( 酢味噌) instead, which literally means vinegar miso.

I thought of making nuta because I ate tuna nuta on Ishigaki Island, Okinawa when I stayed there in late January. The story of how I ended up eating tuna nuta is quite memorable.

On the last day on Ishigaki Island, I woke up early. So I decided to stroll down to Ishigaki fishing port to see if the fishing boats were unloading the fish they caught. And there was one! I was so excited to see lots of yellow fin tuna being lifted up from the bottom of the fishing boat using a crane. They were moved to the vast area with only the roof where they pack to ship the tuna and auction the fish.

The fishing boat was out on the sea for 10 days and had just come back. I took many photos and talked to the captain of the fishing boat as well as the owner who was there with his family to see the day’s catch. I forgot the time and was there for over an hour until all the fish were unloaded.

Then the owner of the boat declared that he wanted to have a feast there immediately as it was the day after the Lunar New Year. The crew of the fishing boat were working on Lunar New Year’s Day and he could not celebrate the new year without the crew.

Apparently, people celebrate Lunar New Year in Okinawa instead of calendar new year which is celebrated in other parts of Japan. It is actually the same as the new year in Taiwan (Okinawa is very close to Taiwan so no wonder).

The owner got his men to bring awamori (泡盛, Okinawan sake) and make sashimi and other nibbles from the day’s catch. Then he told me to join them and bring my friends whom I had left behind at the lodging.

I had never eaten such fresh tuna and kingfish. No, it was not blue fin tuna, it was yellow fin tuna. But it was so fresh. Among the sashimi dishes was tuna nuta. The size of the tuna pieces in the nuta was just like tuna sashimi and it looked as though they just threw some sashimi in the sumiso dressing with sliced onions.

I did not see them making it but I could tell that the sashimi and tuna nuta were most likely made by the fishermen, not the wives. It looked quite manly, if you know what I mean, but it was just perfect to be there in the outdoor setting in the fishing port, with a large 1.8 litre (61oz) bottle of awamori.

At Ishigaki fishing port, from left to right: yellow fin tuna being unloaded, tuna nuta with onion slices, 1.8L (61oz) bottle awamori (Okinawan sake) – you can only see half of the label but it has just one large kanji character “寿” (kotobuki) in gold which means celebrations.

We had a wonderful time there. Most travellers would not experience something like this and I thought we were lucky to meet very friendly and kind people. I found that people on the Ishigaki Islands are in general friendly, kind and happy. A couple of Ishigaki people said that it was because of the beautiful seas and beaches.

It was a long story but the tuna nuta I had with the fishermen inspired me to make today’s recipe. I used white miso instead of brown miso in my recipe for Tuna and Shallots Nuta. And tuna was cut into bite size cubes. Then I thought of making another nuta with brown miso and present it differently. Now you get a bonus second nuta recipe, Squid with Cucumber and Wakame Nuta.

You can use any kind of miso but you need to adjust the amount of sugar depending on the sweetness of the miso you are using. For example, if you are using Saikyo miso, you do not need to add sugar as the miso is already quite sweet. If you are using aka-miso (very dark brown miso), you may need to increase the sugar slightly.

You could make nuta with other sashimi quality raw fish, boiled octopus or clams (pippies in Australia). Chicken breast or tenderloin is also suitable for nuta. You need to steam or boil chicken, then shred it. You can also use seaweed instead of meat for vegetarians.

Yumiko

5 from 4 votes

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Tuna and Shallots (Scallions) Nuta

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

5 mins

Total Time

15 mins

 

Nuta is made with miso, vinegar, and sugar, with or without Japanese mustard. One of the representative nuta is Tuna and Shallots Nuta. It is a great accompaniment for drinks particularly sake.

Recipe Type: Appetiser, Sides

Cuisine: Japanese

Serves: 2 as sides, 4 as appetisers

Author: Yumiko

Ingredients

• 200g (7.1oz) sashimi tuna , cut into 2cm (¾“) cube
• 2 stems of shallots (scallions), blanched and cut into 4cm (1½”) length

Sumiso Dressing

• 4 tbsp white miso (note 1)
• 2 tbsp mirin
• 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 1/2 tsp sugar (note 1)
• 1/2 tsp hot mustard (note 2)

Instructions

1. Add all the Sumiso Dressing ingredients, except mustard into a small pot and heat over medium low heat.
2. Mix well until the dressing becomes smooth without miso lumps and the edge of the sauce starts to bubble. Turn off the heat and let it cool down to at least room temperature. Do not heat too long otherwise the sauce will become too thick (note 3).
3. Add mustard and mix well.
4. Add tuna and shallots into the sauce and mix gently to coat well with the sauce.
5. Serve immediately in small plates or bowls.

Recipe Notes

1. Depending on the type of miso used, the amount of sugar may need to be adjusted. If you use Saikyo miso (white sweet miso), you do not need to add sugar. If you use brown miso, then you need to increase the amount of sugar to 1 teaspoon (see the recipe for Squid with Cucumber and Wakame Nuta). It is also dependant on your preference.

2. It is ideal to use karashi (からし, Japanese mustard) but hot English mustard is also OK.

3. To check the consistency of the sauce, scoop the sauce with a spoon and try to drop the sauce into the pot. It should slowly drop like cold gravy. If it is too thick, add some water.

To cool it down faster, put the dressing in the fridge.

5 from 4 votes

Print

Squid with Cucumber and Wakame Nuta

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

5 mins

Total Time

20 mins

 

Nuta is made with miso, vinegar and sugar, with or without Japanese mustard. You will be surprised to see how well the miso dressing goes with squid. It is great accompaniment for drinks, particularly sake.

Recipe Type: Appetiser

Cuisine: Japanese

Serves: 2 as sides, 4 as appetiser

Author: Yumiko

Ingredients

• 100g (3.5oz) squid cut into strips of 1.5cm x 4cm (5/8" x 1 5/8") , blanched (note 1)
• 2g (0.1oz) dried cut wakame (わかめ, seaweed), rehydrated
• 100g (3.5oz) cucumber , thinly sliced
• Sal

Sumiso Dressing

• 4 tbsp awase-miso or brown miso (note 2)
• 2 tbsp mirin
• 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar (note 2)
• 1/2 tsp hot mustard (note 3)

Instructions

1. Sprinkle a pinch of salt over the cucumber slices and leave for 10 minutes to soften them. Rinse and squeeze the water out.
2. Squeeze water out of wakame.
3. Add all the Sumiso Dressing ingredients, except mustard into a small pot and heat over medium low heat.
4. Mix well until the dressing becomes smooth without miso lumps and the edge of the sauce starts to bubble. Turn off the heat and let it cool down to at least room temperature. Do not heat too long otherwise the sauce will become too thick (note 4).
5. Add mustard and mix well and cool it down.
6. Divide squid, cucumber and wakame into 2 or 4 (if appetiser) serves and place them onto each plate without mixing them.
7. Drop a half or a quarter (if appetiser) of the sumiso dressing on the side and serve.

Recipe Notes

1. I bought one fresh calamari which weighed 210g (7.4oz).

To prepare calamari/squid for nuta (also see the photo steps below the recipe):

a. Remove guts by gently pulling the tentacles from the body. Cut off the tentacles from just below the eyes keeping all tentacles intact. Push out the beak in the middle of the tentacles and discard.
b. Slice open the body tube by cutting vertically through the centre of the body on the side with no wings.
c. Remove the backbone and scrape off the guts attached to the inner skin.
d. Remove the wings off the body. Often, you can pull the skin off the body with the sings. From the edge of the body, peel the remaining brownish skin off. Remove the brown skin off the wings as well. Discard the skin. Use a paper towel to hold the skin and peel if too slimy.
e. Score the body half way through the flesh with a sharp knife making a crosshatch pattern.
f. Cut the tentacles joint to separate tentacles into few groups.

2. Depending on the type of miso used, the amount of sugar may need to be adjusted. If you use Saikyo miso (white sweet miso), you do not need to add sugar. If you use brown miso, then you need to increase the amount of sugar to 1 teaspoon. It is also dependant on your preference.

3. It is ideal to use karashi (からし, Japanese mustard) but hot English mustard is also OK.

4. To check the consistency of the sauce, scoop the sauce with a spoon and try to drop the sauce into the pot. It should slowly drop like cold gravy. If too thick, add some water.

To cool it down faster, put the dressing in the fridge.