Tuna Teriyaki Kabobs

March 15th. Publication day. The book exists. Obaachan's Kitchen: Recipes and Remembrance from a Japanese-American Table is in bookstores today. The sentence is real. The sentence has taken nine years to become real. The sentence began with a bowl of miso soup at three AM and has arrived, through grief and cooking and writing and more grief and more cooking and more writing, at a bookstore shelf, between other books, with my name on the spine, with Fumiko's story inside.

I made miso soup at five AM. The ritual did not pause for publication day. The kombu soaked overnight. The dashi heated slowly. The miso dissolved. The chipped bowl. The steam. The taste. The practice. The practice does not know it is publication day. The practice knows only: the kombu is soaked. The dashi is heated. The miso is dissolved. The bowl is held. The morning begins.

Miya woke up and said, "Is today the day?" I said yes. She said, "Can we go see it?" We drove to Powell's before school. We walked to the food writing section. The book was there. On the shelf. Spine out. My name. The cover: the chipped bowl, the steam. Miya pointed at it and said, "That's you, mama." She did not say: that's your book. She said: that's you. The book is me. Miya knows this. The book is me the way the miso soup is me the way the chipped bowl is me. The book and the soup and the bowl are the same thing: the practice, made visible, placed on a shelf, offered to the world.

I held the book in the bookstore and I held Miya's hand and we stood there, mother and daughter, in the food writing aisle at Powell's, looking at a book about a grandmother, and the grandmother was present in the book and in the bowls in my kitchen and in the recipe cards on my wall and in the girl standing next to me who can read the recipe cards in Japanese and who makes miso soup by herself and who said, at seven years old, pointing at the spine: "That's you, mama." That's me. That's everything. That's the practice. That's the life.

The miso soup was the morning ritual, but dinner that night felt like it needed to hold the same weight — something rooted in the Japanese flavors that lived in Fumiko’s kitchen, something Miya and I could make together as a celebration that didn’t announce itself too loudly. These tuna teriyaki kabobs are exactly that: the sweet-salt pull of teriyaki, the simplicity of good fish, the kind of recipe that asks you to be present while you make it. Obaachan would have understood the teriyaki glaze. Miya loved them. That’s enough.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 10 min | Total Time: 30 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs fresh ahi tuna, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons mirin
1 tablespoon sake (or dry sherry)
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
1 green bell pepper, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
1 medium red onion, cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks
8–10 wooden or metal skewers
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, for garnish
2 green onions, thinly sliced, for garnish

Instructions

Soak skewers. If using wooden skewers, soak them in water for at least 30 minutes before grilling to prevent burning.
Make the teriyaki marinade. In a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, mirin, sake, honey, sesame oil, garlic, and grated ginger until the honey is fully dissolved.
Marinate the tuna. Place the tuna cubes in a shallow dish or zip-top bag. Pour 3/4 of the marinade over the tuna, toss gently to coat, and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Reserve the remaining marinade for basting.
Assemble the kabobs. Thread the marinated tuna, bell pepper pieces, and red onion chunks onto skewers, alternating ingredients and leaving a small gap between each piece for even cooking.
Preheat the grill. Heat an outdoor grill or grill pan to medium-high heat. Lightly oil the grates to prevent sticking.
Grill the kabobs. Place kabobs on the grill and cook for 2–3 minutes per side, turning once or twice, until the tuna is seared on the outside but still slightly pink in the center, about 8–10 minutes total. Baste with reserved marinade during the last 2 minutes of cooking.
Rest and garnish. Remove kabobs from the grill and let rest for 2 minutes. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and sliced green onions before serving. Serve over steamed rice.

Nutrition (per serving)

Tuna Teriyaki Kabobs — The Japanese Table, Carried Forward