While there are still a few warm evenings left, treat yourself to an elegant dish of lightly seared tuna which is easier to make at home than you might think. You’ve probably seen and tasted versions of this in upscale restaurants and truthfully you can have that 5-star experience in a heartbeat if you buy ‘sushi quality’ tuna from your fishmonger – the only requirement really for enjoying this fancy appetizer.
Once you have that glistening and ruby red tuna piece you’re in business and the rest is just icing on the cake. I picked this recipe since I’m a big fan of Asian pears and thought the combination of sweet, sour, spicy and salty here sounded very intriguing, and I must admit they really complement the rich and buttery texture of the barely seared tuna.
It tastes as good as it looks, the dark red rare tuna set against the bright green of the jalapeño oil and the pale yellow of the pear forming a most striking palette and the crunchy-smooth bites unleashing their multilayers of flavor at once…a perfect end of summer tableau I’d say.
Seared Tuna with Korean Pear and Jalapeño Oil
Recipe from The New Brooklyn Cookbook
Active time: 30 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes
Serves 6 as an appetizer
For the pears
¼ cup freshly squeezed lime juice
¼ cup distilled white vinegar
2½ tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon coarse salt
½ teaspoon xanthan gum (such as Arrowhead Mills brand)
1 large Korean (Asian) pear
For the jalapeño oil
4 large jalapeños, stems removed
½ cup canola oil
1¼ teaspoons coarse salt
For the tuna
1½ pounds sushi-grade tuna, cut into 6 pieces, 1 x 1 x 2 inches
Coarse salt
Extra-virgin olive oil
¼ cup chiffonade-cut basil
To make the pear and its syrup, in a medium bowl, whisk together the lime juice, vinegar, sugar, salt, xanthan gum, and 1 ²/3 cups water until completely dissolved. Peel, core, and cut the pear into thin half-moon slices. Place the pear slices in the bowl with the lime juice mixture and set aside.
Fill a large bowl with ice and place a metal bowl on top of the ice.
To make the jalapeño oil, combine the jalapeños, canola oil, and salt in a blender and puree on high until the sides of the blender heat up, about 3 minutes. Transfer the oil to the metal bowl over ice and allow to cool completely.
To prepare the fish, heat a grill pan or large sauté pan over high heat. Season the tuna with salt.
Lightly coat the grill pan with olive oil or heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in the sauté pan. Grill the tuna on each side until it has grill marks but is still raw inside, or sauté the tuna for 1 minute on each side, about 4 minutes in all. Slice each tuna log into 5 even slices.
To serve, alternate the tuna and pear slices on serving plates. Generously drizzle with the pear syrup, jalapeño oil, and olive oil. Top with basil.
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