Tuna Tartare

Monday, February 04, 2008

I decided to go to Jerudong Fish Market and saw a few huge fishes on the table of one of the stalls. I looked at one of the cutlets and it's bright pinkish in colour. I then checked out the fins of the huge fishes and noticed they're yellow. Could this be yellow fin tuna? Fresh yellow fin tuna in Jerudong market?

I bought 1.5 kg straight away and proceed home to prepare it. They say the best way to eat tuna (fresh ones - make sure it's fresh) is to eat it raw. Usually people will sear it for less than a minute per side and slice it. Another way to eat it is to diced the tuna into bite sizes and toss it with some salad dressings.

Here's a recipe for Asian Tuna Tartare.

1/4 cup corn oil
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1 pound sushi-grade tuna
1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro (coriander or daun sup)
1 minced small chili
1 1/2 teaspoons wasabi powder
1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
1 tablespoon finely chopped onions(small red ones)
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice, plus half a lemon
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1 tomato--peeled, seeded and cut into 1/8-inch dice
20 best-quality potato chips

In a bowl, combine the corn oil and ginger and let stand at room temperature for at least 2 hours. Strain the oil.
With a very sharp knife, cut the tuna into 1/8-inch dice. In a large bowl, combine the tuna with 3 tablespoons of the ginger oil, 3 tablespoons of the coriander and the chili, wasabi, sesame seeds, scallion and lemon juice. Mix gently and season with salt and pepper.
Stand a 1 1/2-inch-tall and 2 1/4-inch-round mold or a biscuit cutter in the center of a salad plate. Fill the mold with tuna tartare, pressing gently. Lift off the mold. Repeat with the remaining tartare.
Drizzle the remaining ginger oil around each tartare and sprinkle with the tomato, the remaining tablespoon of cilantro and a squeeze of lemon juice. Stand 5 potato chips in a circular pattern in each tartare and serve immediately.