Ahi Tuna?

I tried some Ahi Tuna the other day and I really kind of liked it. It had a tartness that I did not expect, but otherwise pretty decent. More tender than I expected.

What I need is a recipe that adds something more. My wife is not likely to like it as I cooked it (basically some small spicing and seared in the pan.) She might try it if it had a sauce to go on it.

I'll probably want to add some grilled veggies or something on the side.

Any ideas?

I build off this:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/...chile-sauce-seasoned-french-fries-recipe.html

quite often. I change a few things to taste for the wife, as she doesn't like the heat, but the real winner is the pineapple sauce...stuff is incredible and goes really well with ahi.

Fresh and raw is the best way, I assert

Yup raw, dipped in soy sauce is my way of choice...

Mer-man said:

Fresh and raw is the best way, I assert

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that too..

Mer-man said:

Fresh and raw is the best way, I assert

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I doubt my wife will be willing to try it raw.

I'd be willing if I could find it around here fresh.

Last time I made a tuna beer there was something fishy about it.. had to be diacetyl

Soaked in soy sauce, coated with white and black sesame seeds, then blasted on top of a charcoal chimney, 60 sec each side. I think that's and Alton Brown recipe.

If you cook the tuna to anymore than medium, IMO, it defeats the point of having ahi. At that point, you might as well open a can of tuna. Its pretty much the same lol...

Here's 60 sec each side on a charcoal chimney:

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Homercidal said:

I doubt my wife will be willing to try it raw.

I'd be willing if I could find it around here fresh.

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In Michigan, I'd be more willing to eat raw tuna that was previously frozen, then fresh. But that's just me...

Soy, lemon, minced garlic and olive oil for about 15 min each side. Then grilled 4 min a side.

I like to 'cook' my ahi by gently waving it over the grill for 2-3 seconds.

We are having grilled ahi tuna tomorrow. I have a gas grill, so I'm going to do some mesquite chips (I like them with fish), and then briefly sear the tuna on it. I'm serving it with mango salsa and wild rice.

Homercidal said:

I tried some Ahi Tuna the other day and I really kind of liked it. It had a tartness that I did not expect, but otherwise pretty decent. More tender than I expected.

What I need is a recipe that adds something more. My wife is not likely to like it as I cooked it (basically some small spicing and seared in the pan.) She might try it if it had a sauce to go on it.

I'll probably want to add some grilled veggies or something on the side.

Any ideas?

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This - https://www.chefpaul.com/site.php?pageID=365&iteminfo=1&productID=8

Season heavily then grill to med-rare.

Topped with some mango salsa (diced fresh mango, red onion, jalapeño, cilantro, lime juice).

Roasted purple, red, and yellow potatoes go well on the side.

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Oh, well I don't think I like mango salsa. Not much of a fruit person. I'd be willing to taste it, but I wouldn't want to ruin a whole steak with it.

I think my wife might like it though.

I'd seriously consider the mango salsa- I made mine spicy with serrano peppers, but you don't have to do that and it's fruity but not "fruity" like cherries or something.

I cooked mine about 2 minutes per side and topped with the mango salsa. It was so good I can't explain it!

Is that your hand "picked" wild rice? Man would it be fun to go out and harvest that stuff! Wish I could find some around here. It's probably around here somewhere, but I have no idea where to look or how to recognize it if I came across it. I think Kara would love to go out in a canoe and get it. The wife? Maybe not so much!

I wonder if there is any growing in the Haymarsh area...

Piccata is really easy to do. I'm not suggesting it's the best way to cook tuna steaks, but it's tasty and wouldn't ruin them if you need a sauce. I made grouper piccata last night.

Just fry fish in butter, remove fish, deglazee with white wine, add some chicken broth and lots of capers and a little lemon, sprinkle in some flour to thicken it, add the fish back in for a few minutes, serve with the sauce on top, garnish with lemon slices and parsely. It's all done in one pan and is fairly quick I think.

I also took a bunch of loose spinach we had and steamed it till it was soft, fried a bunch of bacon crumbled into the spinach. That was a good side dish.

Piccata is really easy to do. I'm not suggesting it's the best way to cook tuna steaks, but it's tasty and wouldn't ruin them if you need a sauce. I made grouper piccata last night.

Just fry fish in butter, remove fish, deglazee with white wine, add some chicken broth and lots of capers and a little lemon, sprinkle in some flour to thicken it, add the fish back in for a few minutes, serve with the sauce on top, garnish with lemon slices and parsely. It's all done in one pan and is fairly quick I think.

I also took a bunch of loose spinach we had and steamed it till it was soft, fried a bunch of bacon crumbled into the spinach. That was a good side dish.

I tried your chicken piccata before and it's not for me. Too much lemon. That said, I could tweak it to reduce the tartness. My wife didn't mind it so much before, and it would probably go well with the slight tartness in the Tuna itself. I do need to use capers more often.

Homercidal said:

I tried your chicken piccata before and it's not for me. Too much lemon. That said, I could tweak it to reduce the tartness. My wife didn't mind it so much before, and it would probably go well with the slight tartness in the Tuna itself. I do need to use capers more often.

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Use less lemon Capers have a lemony flavor themselves, so maybe thats part of the problem for you.

Homercidal said:

Is that your hand "picked" wild rice? Man would it be fun to go out and harvest that stuff! Wish I could find some around here. It's probably around here somewhere, but I have no idea where to look or how to recognize it if I came across it. I think Kara would love to go out in a canoe and get it. The wife? Maybe not so much!

I wonder if there is any growing in the Haymarsh area...

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Wild rice grows in the north, so you may have a tiny bit north of you. It grows here, in northern Minnesota and in Manitoba. If you come here around Labor Day, we could put you to work! The picking it is fairly easy compared to the processing, which can take weeks to do the Native way. We take ours to a rice processor and "pay" him 20% of the rice to do it for us. So we harvest it around Labor Day and it's done and in our cupboards by about the end of September.

You're welcome to come to our cottage and try it out with us!

You can also deglaze a pan very effectively with beer. Mild flavored cream ale/lagers work best. Maybe not so much the DIPA.

I consider this to be one of my signature dishes. It's seared on smoking hot cast iron with a spicy rub, served with a honey-lemon-soy dipping sauce, bacon fried rice and cucumber sunomono. This was one of 2 dishes that i used to bait and trap my wife. We still eat this about once a month.

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This was another good one. Ahi tuna salad. Greens were 50/50 romaine and Napa cabbage (the cabbage is the ingredient that makes this dish). Dressing was basically an Applebee's Asian chicken salad clone recipe you can find on the internet. Topped with fresh deep fried wontons of course.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1484318373.866144.jpg

Yooper said:

Wild rice grows in the north, so you may have a tiny bit north of you. It grows here, in northern Minnesota and in Manitoba. If you come here around Labor Day, we could put you to work! The picking it is fairly easy compared to the processing, which can take weeks to do the Native way. We take ours to a rice processor and "pay" him 20% of the rice to do it for us. So we harvest it around Labor Day and it's done and in our cupboards by about the end of September.

You're welcome to come to our cottage and try it out with us!

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I'd love to come up and hang out and harvest rice.

I checked around and we have had, and do have wild rice down this way, even towards the south part of the LP. Not as much as there used to be due to homeowners wanting a "weed" free lake and from dams and whatnot.

There is even some movement to help re-establish the rice growing areas where suitable.

Rice would be a nice side dish to the tuna. I'll have to cook some up (store bought) next time I make it. I have a few good ideas now. I'll have to show the wife and see what she thinks. She's not a big fan of fish in general. I bet she just doesn't understand how much different tuna is from most other fish.