Tekka Don vs. Maguro Don: Donburi Tuna Bowls

Donburi (どんぶり/丼), whose literal meaning is a bowl, is the Japanese word for rice bowl dish, usually abbreviated to Don (丼) when used in the dish’s name.

When I think of Japanese seafood donburi or Kaisen Don (海鮮丼), what comes to my mind right away are Tekka Don (鉄火丼) and Maguro Don (マグロ丼) because I love fresh tuna sashimi slices.

Tekka Don vs. Maguro Don

Yes, Tekkadon and Magurodon’s main ingredient is thinly sliced raw tuna, and these seafood donburis tend to have the English name Tuna on rice or Tuna bowl.

But in the first place, do you know how the two Japanese donburi dishes, Tekka Don and Muguro Don, differ?

What is Tekka Don (鉄火丼)?

For the unfamiliar, Tekka Don is a type of seafood donburi generally consisting of a bed of Sumeshi (酢飯: vinegared rice) topped with sashimi slices of Akami (赤身: red meat) of tuna.

Typical garnishes used in the tuna bowl are shredded nori (海苔: dried seaweed laver), Wasabi (わさび: grated Japanese horseradish), and Gari (ガリ: vinegared ginger pickles).

In the name of Tekka Don, Tekka (鉄火) means red hot iron, and for this tuna bowl, we usually prepare tuna Akami with an intense red color.

What is Maguro Don (マグロ丼)?

On the other hand, in the name of Muguro Don, Maguro (マグロ) is the word for “tuna” in English, as I wrote in this article.

So not only the red meat of tuna, but this Kaisen Don can also contain Otoro (大トロ: fatty tuna), Chutoro (中トロ: medium-fatty tuna), and Negitoro (ネギトロ: minced tuna with green onions).

Besides, unlike Tekka Don, this Japanese tuna bowl comes with plain white rice without using Sumeshi vinegared rice.

In Summary

In summary, Tekka Don and Maguro Don primarily differ in the portion of tuna meat used and the variety of rice, as shown in the table below.

(Reference Page: Kotobank 鉄火丼 )