Japanese Tsume and Tare - Nitsume or Thick, Sweet Eel Sauce

"This recipe is for the dark sweet sauce served over many types of sushi in restaurants, especially seafood and fish. Tsume is traditionally made with the reduced stock of boiled conger eels (anago). This abbreviated recipe tastes great and takes much less cooking time than the traditional method of preparation. Dashi is a soup and cooking stock considered fundamental to Japanese cooking. Dashi forms the base for Miso Soup, clear broth soups, Japanese noodle broths, and many Japanese simmering liquids. Most people use granulated or liquid instant substitutes found in Asian Markets. A small pastry brush or rubber spatula will allow you to apply this sauce thinly and evenly over your sushi or other choices. American sushi chefs use Tsume to dress everything from avocado-based rolls to tamago. This recipe will keep in the refrigerator for several months. Heat to ambient temperature (or warmer) before use."
 
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photo by Lindas Busy Kitchen photo by Lindas Busy Kitchen
photo by Lindas Busy Kitchen
photo by Lindas Busy Kitchen photo by Lindas Busy Kitchen
photo by Lindas Busy Kitchen photo by Lindas Busy Kitchen
Ready In:
3hrs 5mins
Ingredients:
4
Yields:
1 c.
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ingredients

  • 1 cup dashi (cooking stock)
  • 12 cup mirin (Japanese sweet cooking wine)
  • 12 cup shoyu (soy sauce)
  • 14 cup sugar
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directions

  • Put all ingredients into a saucepan, and heat to boiling over medium heat.
  • Simmer the sauce for about 3-4 hours to thicken. Reduce the volume to the point that it threads or webs when picked up with hashi.

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Reviews

  1. Once I found my way around the Asian Market and picked up my stuff I was excited to make this sauce, as I love it so much when I go out to eat and have sushi. This is delicious and just as good as in the restaurants! Make sure you don't cook it too long or it will become caramelized and thick!
     
  2. We made sushi for the first time and I made up this delicious sauce to use on our Eel rolls. It was just like at the restaurant. I love the sweet taste of this sauce on my rolls and it couldn't have been better! We plan to practice using this sauce on other sushi rolls real soon!
     
  3. Paired well with a spicy, honey mayonnaise I made for a spicy tuna roll!
     
  4. I love Eel sauce and never in my wildest dreams did I think I would ever be able to make my own. I was totally thrilled to have found this recipe! I went to the Asian market here and got all the ingredients I needed and the end result was well worth the effort. This sauce really adds to the taste of the sushi and I loved the sweetness so much, and it really offset the taste of the fish so nicely!
     
  5. This sauce was pretty easy to put together after finding the ingredients at my local Asian market. The sauce thickened up nicely. Make sure you don't cook it too much or it will start to firm up and do more than carmelize. We pulled ours off just in time! Excellent recipes Linda. We enjoyed it so much atop our many sushi rolls that my friend and I made using your tutorials Recipe #261193 and Recipe #261412.
     
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

<p>Hi Everyone,</p> <p>I just don't have the time these days to send out individual thank yous for those that make and review my recipes, but I&nbsp;&nbsp;just want you to know that you are truly appreciated and it tickles me every time I get a review, knowing you tried my recipes and enjoyed them the way I do.</p> <p>I even appreciate the ones that tried them and for some reason they didn't work out for you. &nbsp;Everyone has different tastes, and you can't please everyone all the time. &nbsp;</p> <p>Lots of times people change the recipes, adding things, leaving things out, and not seasoning them to their own taste, and give a bad review... &nbsp;Recipes are only guidelines, and if you follow mine and don't like it, then it's a personal preference as to why you don't like it, and I appreciate that. &nbsp;However, if you don't follow my recipe then it is YOUR recipe that you don't like, and my recipe shouldn't be rated. IMHO &nbsp; Thanks for trying them anyway &nbsp;:)</p> <p>Hugs,</p> <p>Linda</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>My name is Linda. I am happily single, and I live in Rochester NH. I just moved back to the town where most of my family lived years ago, and where I lived as a child, after living in NC for 5 years. I have 2 grown sons, a dil, and 2 beautiful grandsons. <br /> <br />I really enjoy my time here on Zaar posting recipes, trying new recipes, taking pictures, and reviewing lots of yummy recipes! <br /> <br />I love to cook, and share recipes. The recipes that I share are mainly my own creations, or family recipes passed down to me from my mom and grandmother, and other family members or friends. If I post something from somewhere else, it has to sound REALLY good to me for me to post it! <br /> <br />Many of the dishes that I prepare are simple, good, down home cooking. Many of them originate from New England, as my grandmother is from Maine, and my mother from New Hampshire. I do also like to try making some gourmet recipes as well, using my creativity along the way. <br /> <br />I started cooking at a the age of 8, helping my mother and grandmother in the kitchen. My curiosity for cooking has led me to create many of my own recipes through trial and error. I hope you enjoy them as much as my family and I do :) <br /> <br />In my spare time I play on my computer collecting recipes, and have been working on creating a cookbook to publish for some time, but have put it aside for now. <br /> <br />I also love to travel and shop. I love to go to the beach and mountains, and as food is a passion of mine, I love to dine out and try many different cuisines in the area, and with friends when I am traveling :) <br /> <br />I made my first herb garden in 2008, but have had vegetable gardens for many years in the past. I have done my share of canning and I love those fresh herbs and veggies all summer long! <br /> <br /> <br />My Rating System: <br /> <br />5 Stars ***** Outstanding recipe that I absolutely loved. It can be down home or restaurant quality, as long as it tastes great and I didn't have to make any changes along the way! Also recipe has to have clear directions. One I would definately make again and again. <br /> <br />4 Stars **** Great recipe that I loved, but one that I may have had to tweak just a bit. Directions may have not been crystal clear. One I would make again and again with my changes. <br /> <br />3 Stars *** I liked the recipe, but had to add ingredients, or add more of a called for ingredient to have the recipe come out the way I like it. 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