Dec 20, 2010

5 Minutes Appetizer - Seared Tuna with Ponzu Sauce

My kitchen resembles a 3/4 empty shell at the moment.

Since the majority of my stuff was packed yesterday, ready to ship oversea back to Taiwan,
I have nearly nothing left to cook with.
No knives, no pots, no blender, no fancy plates,
Just a few small bowls and utensils scattering here and there,
Oh, and an ancient old Teflon pan in the corner.

That also means I've been dining out for the past few days,
My tongue and tummy are crying out for some homemade food (partially I think they're just spoiled!),
MSG-loaded food no more, today, I shall have my simple homemade lunch in da house!
Plus this super easy appetizer below!

Seared tuna served with ponzu sauce and chopped scallion


Lunch: Noodles with soup base, plus tons of spinach (not included in recipe)

Ingredients?

Some sushi grade tuna
Some ponzu sauce
Some toasted sesame seeds
Some "finely" chopped scallion
Some sriracha sauce if preferred
Some olive oil
Some sea salts
Some black pepper
(Use freshly ground black pepper if possible, sadly mine's been packed away)

How?

Season both sides of the tuna with salt and pepper.

Drizzle some oil in the pan, turn to high heat,
Once the oil gets hotter, transfer the fish and sear both sides for about 30 seconds each,
You can definitely sear it till lightly browned.

Remove the fish from heat to a cutting board, let it cool down a wee bit,
Cut into about 1 center meter thick slices,
Serve with some ponzu sauce, finely chopped scallion, a small drop of chili sauce if desired.

So how did I manage to cut the tuna and scallion without a knife?
Well well well, a very dull steak knife can still do the trick,
*if you don't mind suffering from finger cramping afterwards.

-Side note-
Marinate the fish beforehand should make this dish tastier,
Maybe some soy sauce, mirin, grated ginger, and scallion will do.

I would like to fry up some thinly sliced garlic or lotus roots to go with the tuna,
But without a very sharp knife or slicer,
I'd better skip this part just so I can still see all of my ten fingers together. 

Cindy's Rating: 6
(Consider this good enough with my limited tools and seasoning)

6 comments:

  1. funny you made the comment : "it's been so many years, time to go home!"

    I've been "here" quite a few years, but I never thought, "time to go home" would mean packing my shit up and going back to Taipei. "Time to go home" usually means it's 2am and I'm drunk out of my ass & need someone to drive to somewhere in LA.

    Have a safe trip. hope all your stuff makes it a-ok via the ocean!

    Will you continue blogging in English? or..?

    ReplyDelete
  2. To sinosoul.com~
    Haha don't party too hard there! I'll still write my blog in English, maybe even more Asian food in the future since it'll be harder for me to find western ingredients. Btw, I have a "Chinese" blog too, just started few months ago!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Back to Taiwan for good?
    btw in such limited equipment u still can make those yummy food.. i adore your spirit of cooking!! n yeah my stomach full of MSG..

    btw I'm printing this Seared Tuna post for my mom :P

    Keep Posting :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. To Nilcha~
    Thank you so much! I need to eat homemade food at least few times a week, otherwise I'll just get very cranky haha! Early Merry Xmas to you!

    ReplyDelete
  5. That shows you don't need a lot of tools to cook professionally :)

    ReplyDelete