Tuna steaks, how to cook

[Chobohoya]

On my last grocery trip, I picked up some tuna steaks on a whim. Yeah, exciting times. I like to cook, but I have literally no experience with cooking fish. So hit me with some ideas, assume that I'm willing to spend up to an hour cooking/preparing, and I would go buy the spices you recommend. Thanks.

[Peca277]

Rachael Ray says that you put olive oil on both sides, and on one side you completely coat it with cracked black pepper. Then you put them in a hot skillet for 2-3 minutes on each side so the outside is white, but the middle is still pink. Never actually tried it though.

[xadrez]

If you know the fish is fresh, you dont even have to cook it. Make a Tartare...

Dice the tuna finely.
Add...
Mayonaise
Mustard
Sriracha Hot Sauce(Link (http://www.huyfong.com/no_frames/sriracha.htm))
Salt
Pepper
Sesame Seeds
Sesame Oil

Mix it all together...

[kevyk]

Depends on how adventurous you want to get.

You could go the conservative route and just buy some out-of-the-bottle marinade, then cook the steaks over high heat until they're cooked all the way through.

If you like rare tuna, try this:

To do ~2 lbs of tuna, ake a marinade out of 1 cup soy sauce, 1 cup honey, and 1/4 cup wasabi powder. Let the fish marinate for a couple of hours. You may want to make a little extra of this marinade to use as a dipping sauce.

When ready to cook, oil the grill grate, and preheat the grill to high. Put some sesame seeds on a plate, and coat the tuna steaks. Then sear the edges of the fish. The outside should be seared and the inside as rare as you can stand it.

[xadrez]

[ QUOTE ]
Rachael Ray says that you put olive oil on both sides, and on one side you completely coat it with cracked black pepper. Then you put them in a hot skillet for 2-3 minutes on each side so the outside is white, but the middle is still pink. Never actually tried it though.

[/ QUOTE ]

Make sure the frying pan is VERY hot, and when all sides of the tuna are brown, remove the fish. The whole process of searing the tuna should be very fast, basically you want only the outside of the tuna cooked and the entire inside raw.

[Diplomat]

Well just like anything, you can go very simple or very complex. Try looking at www.allrecipies.com (http://www.allrecipies.com) to find something you might like. My personal favourate though is simple: salt, pepper, a bit of minced garlic and a splash of good olive oil. On the grill or in a pan on high heat for 30 seconds a side, no longer.

-Diplomat

[gumpzilla]

[ QUOTE ]
Rachael Ray says that you put olive oil on both sides, and on one side you completely coat it with cracked black pepper. Then you put them in a hot skillet for 2-3 minutes on each side so the outside is white, but the middle is still pink. Never actually tried it though.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'd want to be pretty sure about the quality of the tuna before I tried this, and I'd probably want to use the tuna as quickly as possible to do this. But if you can pull this off, it will be a tasty meal. Tuna seared on the outside while mostly raw but warm inside is fantastic. Get that skillet hot (I think cast iron would work well here).

[howzit]

nah, you don't need an hour to prep those things and cooking 'em is real simple.

Just coat w/olive oil, cover in salt and pepper, (white if you got it) get a medium flame and grill all sides until like a grayish hue. Keep the middle rare and you're done.

Also, I've covered in coriander, black pepper, and a few cloves. Just remember to coat in oil so that a the fish won't dry out on the heat.

Enjoy. /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[FishNChips]

First : Congratulations! Tuna Rocks!!! Eat more of it (and not the canned crap).
I'm assuming you've got Ahi (yellowfin / the pink stuff). If so all above suggestions are great if the Tuna is FRESH and of good quality.
If you are in Kansas or some other very landlocked state where "fresh fish" means we froze it to get it here and now that we've thawed it, its for sale, then I would not go the searing route... prep is about the same though - some olive oil, little salt, cracked pepper, possibly garlic. Cook on a grill (I learned earliler today from OOT that its a grill not a BBQ - thank you OOT!) on med/low for about 6 - 8 minutes each side (do first side 6mins). Middle should still be just slightly pinkish rest will turn more white.

Good Luck and Enjoy!
FishNChips

ps... a nice beer to go with it is an absolute must!

[beerbandit]

didnt someone already mention something about not being able to tuna fish...

[InchoateHand]

Grill it.

[kerssens]

BBQ it.

[InchoateHand]

[ QUOTE ]
BBQ it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Smart ass. /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Chobohoya]

Lot of good suggestion so far, the best seems to be the salt/pepper/garlic route. I should say that it was frozen, so i dont think any sort of tartar or sashimi is really going to be an option.

[kerssens]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
BBQ it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Smart ass. /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

I was aware of the difference but its not such an issue in the NW and I got lazy.

[InchoateHand]

Make ceviche out of it. I made some a couple of weeks ago. I've had it made from tuna and it's very good.

[AncientPC]

I've always wanted to try that, but you would probably need a good quality tuna steak to do that . . . and I'm in TX for crying out loud.

[Chobohoya]

What is ceviche?

[FishNChips]

ceviche from tuna, just say NO! Its a waste of decent tuna. Get cod or other lowgrade whitefish for ceviche. Doing it with Tuna is -EV!

FishNChips

[InchoateHand]

[ QUOTE ]
What is ceviche?

[/ QUOTE ]

You cut up the fish and put it in lime/lemon juice and the acid in the juice cooks it. Let it sit in it a few hours and drain off the juice. Add some onion, tomato, cilantro, peppers,(I add coconut milk), etc. Lots of recipes on the net.

[InchoateHand]

[ QUOTE ]
ceviche from tuna, just say NO! Its a waste of decent tuna. Get cod or other lowgrade whitefish for ceviche. Doing it with Tuna is -EV!

FishNChips

[/ QUOTE ]

You're so wrong.

[Chobohoya]

That sounds really good, why would it be a waste? Does the tuna just get overpowered? We're not talking about sushi grade fatty tuna here or anything.. it's just rando tuna from Safeway.

[InchoateHand]

Make sure you don't use too much onion. IMO most ceviche recipes call for too much, and I like onion. It can overpower.

[xadrez]

Ceviche is good sh*t.

Add in some calamari and shellfish along with whatever fish you decide to make it with.

[gumpzilla]

I've been thinking about making scallop ceviche for a while. I've never had it, nor any other ceviche, for that matter, but it looks pretty damn good. How do you feel about scallops vs. a fish like cod or tilapia?

[InchoateHand]

[ QUOTE ]
Add in some calamari and shellfish along with whatever fish you decide to make it with.

[/ QUOTE ]

I usually go with fish, shrimp and scallops. But calamari sounds goot. Maybe next time.

[FishNChips]

ceviche doesn't require good fish, it just requires fish. The salsa type flavor that its going to have pretty much eliminates the fish taste so why spend the $$$ for Tuna when you can spend $ for cod/other and have it taste the same.

I've not tried scallops and I don't buy them so I don't know what they cost.

My point is that spending lots of $$$ on fish/other for ceviche is a waste because less $ fish is just as good.

FishNChips

[Chobohoya]

That makes sense. Guess it's going to be a simple searing then. Thanks everyone.

[InchoateHand]

[ QUOTE ]
ceviche doesn't require good fish, it just requires fish. The salsa type flavor that its going to have pretty much eliminates the fish taste so why spend the $$$ for Tuna when you can spend $ for cod/other and have it taste the same.

My point is that spending lots of $$$ on fish/other for ceviche is a waste because less $ fish is just as good.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is wrong. If you buy cheap fish, which are typically bland, then you can't taste the fish. Or if you put in too much crap that overpowers it, then yes that can happen. If If you have good, fresh fish, which is not bland, and you make good ceviche (not a salad with some fish in it), you'll taste the good fish. IMO.

[xadrez]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Add in some calamari and shellfish along with whatever fish you decide to make it with.

[/ QUOTE ]

I usually go with fish, shrimp and scallops. But calamari sounds goot. Maybe next time.

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh man, you gotta try it with calamari...so good...