Seared Ahi Tuna
Trust me, I did not grow up loving fish. It was an “acquired” taste that came after years of my father not letting me leave the table until I finished my food (whether I liked it or not). I realize now that the lesson behind that was to be grateful for what I had and not to be wasteful, but even more so for me it broadened my palate and made me more open to trying new things. The worst thing you can do is tell yourself you don’t like something before you try it, be more open and you won’t miss out on delicious food!
The first time I had seared ahi tuna I was certain that I wouldn’t like it, already made the disgusted face before the fork even hit my lips. Boy was I wrong, and today it’s my favorite thing to make at home and order at restaurants.
There are a variety of ways to marinate and cook your tuna, my favorite is pan searing. This particular recipe adds a light kick to the Tuna, which I love, pair it with avocado pistachio sauce and it’s heaven in your mouth!
This is tuna is seared about medium, so 30sec to 1min each side. The next picture I wasn’t snapchatting and taking pictures of the food, so I was able to cook it rare (10-15sec each side). I also was able to eat it right away hence the lack of tuna! :))
INGREDIENTS
- 2 Tuna Steak
- 1tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp paprika
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp tarragon
- 2 tbsp dried crushed red pepper
- 1 cup olive oil
DIRECTIONS
1. Rinse your tuna steaks, pat dry and set aside.
2. In a small pan add olive oil and dried crushed red pepper. Stir for about 2min on low to medium heat, use a thermomiter to make sure heat doesn’t go above 180 degrees.
3. In a small bowl combine the rest of the ingredients and mix together to make the dry rub.
4. Brush the chili oil over both side of the tuna, gently massage it in with your hands. Set aside remaining oil to use later.
5. Sprinkle the season all over both sides of the fish. Let sit in refrigerator for 20-30min. (If you don’t have time it’s ok to skip this step)
6. When you’re ready, coat the bottom of a small/medium pan with some of the remaining chili oil (you’ll likely have some left over use can use on salads or marinate with at another time), heat the skillet on low-medium and let the oil heat for a minute or so.
7. Carefully add the tuna, depending on how you like it cooked you’ll want to leave on the heat for a short or longer period of time. I like mine very rare so I leave it on the heat for 10-15sec each side. However, I was taking pictures for this blog so they did get left of a little longer. J ENJOY!
Xo
Colleen
#cookingwithcolleen