Tuna is one of the healthiest and most delicious fish available due to its unmistakable flavor and high nutrient content. However, its meats tend to become dry and flaky when fully cooked (like canned tuna), as they are low in fat. One technique to keep them moist and tasty involves browning them, in other words cooking the outer portion leaving the core to the blood. Even a beginner can learn how to cook tuna in minutes.
Ingrediants
Basic Recipe
- 350g tuna steak to divide into two slices (choose the best quality available)
- Two tablespoons of lemon juice (to be used separately)
- Salt and Pepper To Taste.
- 2 tablespoons of rice wine (optional)
- 2 tablespoons of soy sauce (optional)
- 1 tablespoon minced ginger (optional)
- 3 tablespoons chopped shallots (optional)
Citrus marinade
- 60 ml of orange juice
- 60 ml of soy sauce
- 30 ml of olive oil
- 15 ml of lemon juice
- 1 minced clove of garlic
- 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley
- Half a teaspoon of chopped oregano
- Black pepper to taste
Steps
Method 1 of 3: Brown the Tuna in the Pan
Step 1. Remove excess water from the surface of the tuna
If you haven't already, cut the steak into even steaks and pat them gently with paper towels on both sides; the tuna doesn't have to be perfectly dry, but it doesn't have to be wetter than it is in natural conditions.
The water turns into steam inside the hot pan, cooking the meats in this way instead of browning them; this is why excessive humidity will prevent you from getting as crunchy and caramelized tuna as you would like
Step 2. Heat the oil in a pan on the stove
Set the heat to medium-high and wait five minutes or until the pan starts to smoke; pour the oil on the hot surface, it should immediately begin to simmer. Use vegetable oil with a high smoke point, but avoid olive oil.
The key to obtaining perfect browning is to cook the tuna at a high temperature for a short time; cooking at a low temperature does not generate the crunchy consistency you want, furthermore the prolonged times cause the meat to dry out
Step 3. Place the tuna steaks in the pan
Season them lightly on both sides with salt and pepper before cooking. Place them gently in the pan away from your body to prevent splashes of hot oil from reaching you; they should start sizzling immediately.
Step 4. Brown each side for 1-2 minutes
As described above, the trick to good browning is fast, high-heat cooking. Let each side cook for 90 seconds without touching it; after this time, peek under the slice to make sure the outside is golden and crunchy. This clue tells you that you can flip the tuna slice, so cook the other side the same way.
You can change the cooking times according to the thickness of the fish steaks; for example, if you bought particularly tall slices (more than 2-3 cm) you should cook each side for 2-3 minutes
Step 5. Remove the tuna from the pan and serve
When the outside is golden and crunchy, the fish is ready to eat; sprinkle it with a tablespoon of lemon juice to enhance the flavor. Once the meats have cooled a little, cut them into strips perpendicular to the muscle fibers; in this way, you cut them off making the meat more tender.
- Remember that it is not very important that the heart of the slice is well cooked. In most restaurants, tuna is deliberately served very rare; unlike fatty fish such as salmon, heavily cooked tuna tends to be dry.
- A good quality fish can be eaten browned safely even if the inside is rare. If you are concerned about food poisoning, you can use a meat thermometer; most experts recommend that the core of the slice reaches 50 ° C.
Step 6. If you wish, you can cook the vegetables and side dishes in the cooking stocks
Once the tuna is cooked, you can prepare a healthy side dish by placing the vegetables in the same pan with the cooking juices until they become soft. For the recipe described above it is recommended to add ginger and shallot, but you can use the ingredients you prefer, according to your tastes and what you have in the refrigerator.
To prepare this side dish, put the shallots in a pan with the ginger, adding a little oil to prevent them from sticking to the bottom. Cook the vegetables until they become transparent and soft, add the soy sauce, rice wine and the rest of the lemon juice; continue cooking for a minute, seasoning with salt and pepper before serving the vegetables on the tuna
Method 2 of 3: Citrus marinade
Step 1. Mix the ingredients in a bowl
Preparing a marinade is quite simple; all you have to do is combine the liquid ingredients and flavors you like. The recipe described in this article allows you to make a delicious but very simple blend of orange and soy. Here are some general rules you need to follow to prepare a marinade:
- This solution almost always has an acidic and a fatty ingredient. Oil is usually used for fat, while for acid you can rely on vinegar, citrus juice, wine or another similar ingredient.
- In addition to this, most marinades are flavored with other aromatic ingredients, such as herbs, spices, sugar, salt, pepper and much more.
- Considering the recipe described above, the orange and lemon juice make up the acid part, olive oil is the fatty ingredient and everything else gives it flavor.
Step 2. Soak the tuna in the marinade
Once the solution has been prepared, pour it into a sturdy plastic bag, add the slice and massage it so that it is covered with liquids and aromas; put the bag in the refrigerator and wait at least 24 hours. The longer you leave the fish in the liquid, the more intense the flavor will be.
If you are concerned about leaks, put the first bag in another
Step 3. Brown the marinated steak as usual
Heat the pan and, when it is hot, add the oil. Remove the steaks from the solution, shake them to remove excess liquid and place them in the oil for 1-2 minutes per side or as needed; then proceed with the normal cooking technique.
Step 4. Moisten each side of the steaks with additional marinade if desired
As you cook the tuna, you can flavor it by wetting it with a little leftover marinade; when you turn it, the liquid gets trapped between the bottom of the pan and the meats, browning and caramelizing them.
Since the marinade contains the juices of raw fish, for hygienic reasons you should not add it just before serving the dish; instead you have to make sure that the liquid touches the hot pan to kill any germs. If you pour it over the slice, flip it over and cook it briefly before consuming
Method 3 of 3: Variants
Step 1. Try grilling the tuna instead of cooking it on the stove
The instructions described so far instruct you to put the fish in a hot pan on the stove, but there is no reason not to use a barbecue. Use the same basic principles: wait until the grill is very hot, grease it with oil and let the fish steaks cook for a couple of minutes on each side. It's easier to control the heat with a gas barbecue, but charcoal is fine too, as long as you can keep the temperature high and constant.
Read this article for more detailed instructions and get perfectly grilled tuna
Step 2. Use the oil and flavorings to give the tuna a delicious crust
Once you are familiar with the basic technique, you can modify the recipe a little by coating the slice with powder or solid flavorings; just coat it with a mix of spices, just like you would with pork ribs or beef brisket. Here's how to proceed:
- After removing excess moisture with kitchen paper, grease both sides of the slice with a little vegetable oil.
- Transfer it to a bowl along with your favorite flavors, spices and herbs; the powdered ingredients stick to the oil and form an irresistible crust during cooking.
- You can use minced garlic, chopped parsley, ginger, paprika, rosemary, thyme, cayenne pepper, onion powder, and more. it all depends on your tastes.
- Finish the procedure with salt and pepper; brown as usual.
Step 3. Serve the tuna with a gravy
If you've ever eaten sushi at a restaurant, you may have noticed that dishes that contain tuna also have a small amount of sauce just to dip the fish into. You can prepare it yourself by pouring some of your favorite sauce into a bowl or saucer and serving it with the tuna; soy sauce and teriyaki sauce are perfect, but you can use others as well.
Do some research online to find simple sauce recipes that go well with browned tuna
Step 4. Try breading the tuna before cooking
Is there a food that doesn't taste better when it is breaded and fried? Cover the tuna with breadcrumbs and fry it by adding a slightly higher dose of oil than necessary for browning; in this way, you get a crunchy and delicious breading. There are many ways to proceed, here are some tips:
- Mix panko bread with an equal amount of black sesame seeds in a bowl.
- Roll the tuna steaks in the mixture, one at a time, until they are perfectly breaded; if the mixture does not adhere naturally to the fish, you can lightly grease it with a little oil.
- Brown the tuna in a pan using a larger amount of oil to obtain a fried and crunchy breading.
Advice
- Fully cooking the tuna inside is no problem, but you would get drier meat with a more crumbly texture than you might enjoy in most restaurants. If you prefer a well-cooked tuna steak, cover the pan for about 10 minutes after searing the fish to retain as much moisture as possible.
- Try this trick to prevent the tuna from sticking to the pan: as soon as you put the fish in the very hot oil, use a spatula or spoon to move it for a few seconds while holding it face down. Once the outer surface is browned, it is more difficult for it to stick.
- Try cutting the slice (making a shallow "X" with a knife) before putting it in the marinade; in this way, the flavors of the mixture penetrate deep into the meat.
