How to Make Heaven: Part II
Did you get your ahi to follow along? No? Shame on you! Oh well, this turned out really good.
First off, I didn't notice any benefit of the overnight marinating. A couple of hours is all that you really need.
Out of the tupperware, bringing up to room temperature. Nice and stained from the soy.
Coat both sides with sesame seeds. Although this is optional, I really like the texture and flavor it imparts.
And now to sear. I'm sure some people will tell me I've done this all wrong and I've chosen the wrong pan but I find stainless to do the best job when it comes to searing. I ruined a ceramic pan, cast iron was disappointing, non-stick was OK, but stainless was perfect. A bit more cleanup at the end of the night, but it's worth it.
Get the pan hot, then add a little bit of sesame oil. Turn the pan to spread the oil then add your fish.
Flip! About 3 minutes. Lather, rinse, repeat for the other side.
Wrap in to some plastic wrap (Saran Wrap) for carry over cooking while you get everything else ready.
This next part is just bonus coverage. Perhaps the best salad I've ever made and really simple. Some red and green bell peppers, green onions, napa cabbage, and a kick ass asian dressing. A blog for another day...But while you are chopping, add some green onions to the reserved dipping sauce.
The Salad..
Cut up the ahi, this is where I'm sure I go wrong. Can never get the grain right. But it tastes all the same.
A little Udon for the girls....
And after the four year old refuses to eat anything...Dino Nuggets. I <3 the microwave.
Here's to healthy eating, and to you.
I think every house within 10 miles of a Costco has that dino chicken.
Looks awesome. You could dip a rock in that sauce and it would taste good.
Posted by Kevin on February 22, 2008 at 09:08 PM PST #
Now that is some good looking salad! I expect a video of "how to slice tuna" someday :)
Posted by Rick V on February 22, 2008 at 09:08 PM PST #
Thank the lords for small favors. All the fine food you cook up, and I can take some solace in knowing that I'm not alone in feeding my kids dino nuggets occasionally. Even the best fed of us need to get our kids to eat. Of course, I won't be using this post to convince my kids of the potential of good food, as they'll see the dinos and consider themselves justified. :-)
Posted by Perley on February 23, 2008 at 06:30 AM PST #
Little by little I get them to try new things. Of course they'd prefer a happy meal over most of the stuff I cook, but it does a dads heart some good when they do get excited about some of the thing you make. I find the more I involve them in the cooking process, the more likely they are to try new things. But mostly they just love the Costco Dino Nuggets. :)
Posted by Thin Guy on February 23, 2008 at 08:55 AM PST #
Hahahah dino nuggets for the win!
Posted by tony:frosty on February 23, 2008 at 07:14 PM PST #
This turned out very well! Thanks for the recipe and inspiration.
http://frostyland.blogspot.com/2008/02/dinner-seared-ahi-tuna.html
Posted by tony:frosty on February 24, 2008 at 11:20 PM PST #
reminds me of the "chimney tuna" recipe I got from Alton Brown. He basically uses a charcoal chimney to get an "jet engine afterburner hot" temperature and grills the sesame encrusted tuna over that for about 30 seconds per side. The official food network recipe page here:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_19290,00.html
My pictures of the chimney doing it's 'thang here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jakemono/tags/chimneytuna/show/ (that's not me in the pictures)
Posted by jake on March 05, 2008 at 03:18 PM PST #