Tuna-tastic

J and I are both big fans of tuna sashimi. We regularly have Japanese food and every time we do there are negotiations over the tuna. A single piece of tuna sashimi fetches a good trade at the sushi bar. It can be traded for two prawn nigri or even a whole serving of agadashi tofu (which is a bit unfair as J doesn’t even really like tofu). We both always keep a count of how many pieces of tuna we have both eaten – God forbid one of us should have more than the other. We’ve even been known to order extra tuna just to prevent an argument.

I spotted two recipes in last months Delicious magazine for raw (or nearly raw) tuna and the pictures looked so good I decided that the first chance I had to go to the fish market I was going to pick up some fresh sashimi tuna and put together a nice light meal for us. Wow, imagine having your tuna on your own plate so that no wandering chopsticks can steal them on you.

The first dish (pictured above) was more about the presentation that the cooking involved. I made some sushi rice and sprinkled it with poppies seeds. Then I added an oyster, some salmon roe, avocado, yamagataya seaweed and garnished with a little basil. I then made the dressing which was
2 tbs rice vinegar
1 tbs wasabi paste
2 tsp sweet chilli sauce
100ml vegetable oil
50ml extra virgin olive oil

I loved all the different textures in this very simple dish.

The second dish was again for simple but tasted absolutely divine. I coated the tuna in olive oil and seared it on all sides for about 2 mins. I then placed it in a bowl of iced water to stop the cooking process. The seared tuna was thinly sliced and served with a raw asparagus salad. You simply shave the asparagus with a vegetable peeler and mix with some salad. This dish was drizzled with the following Soy Dressing
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tsp caster sugar
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 tsp grated ginger
2 tbsp mirin