Clean Flavors: Seared Tuna and Bok Choy
Poor seared tuna. You might notice those who you dine with stick their nose in the air whenever it’s printed on a restaurant menu (including me). It can be found at your neighborhood grill, a chain seafood restaurant or even in a sammich at Portillos. Yes, it was overdone and no, it’s not on the cutting edge… BUT! When cooked properly it is a delicious fish when served in a restaurant and one of the most interesting (and easy to prepare) cuts of fish that you’ll ever make at home.
First of all, find a fish monger and stick with it. I knew a guy at the San Francisco Fish Company in SF that I saw on my day off… just to say hi – I also got a decent discount ’cause I was still in the “industry” back then. Hee hee. Here in Seattle, I work with Steve @ whatever the heck the fish place is next to Frank’s Produce. Remember the guy, not the place – these guys will bounce around the city before they find a steady gig sometimes… follow them and they’ll always give you the good stuff.
Quick recipe follows: I marinated my .75 pound of tuna – $14.99 per pound sans vein – with 1/2 cup of soy sauce, 2 cloves of garlic (minced), 1/4 cup of rice wine vinegar, 1 tsp of sesame oil and 2 tbsp of powdered wasabi for about 1.5 hours (anything between 1 hour and overnight is fine). I then wiped it dry and seared it on a non-stick pan over medium high heat – two minutes on each side.
The baby bok choy ($2.99 for 6, from Frank’s of course) was boiled in very salty water and cooled in an ice water bath to stop the cooking. Liana suggested that we put oyster sauce over the veg, but I decided against it, but I’ll remember to do so next time we have pork chops!
The flavors were clean, and although I could have used a sharper knife on the tuna (yes Ryan, BASIC SKILLS I KNOW), I’m really happy how everything turned out. Liana will probably post about the soup that she made, so I won’t steal her thunder.
HOORAY FOR WEEKNIGHT MEALS! 
~Spec
October 30th, 2008 at 11:53 am
i can’t post about the soup because you didn’t take pictures of it!!! i even garnished it >=O
November 25th, 2008 at 8:41 am
[...] I know… it’s SEARED TUNA (I’ve turned my nose up on it before hee hee), but it’s an honor to for someone to see my food and say “huh, this looks like [...]