My son, Eli, and his friends took up fishing a few years back. He has an awesome fishing rod, but he has since retired it. He has replaced fishing for varsity football, work (yes, he works – in a restaurant), and girls. He is 16 1/2 after all! Although he has given up the sport, his friends haven’t. And every time his friend Owen catches something wonderful, he calls me up and asks if he and I can cook together.
This past summer he caught massive amounts of blue fin tuna. I became the lucky recipient of pounds of tuna and when he called, I knew exactly what I wanted to make. Tuna Tartare! Most of the ingredients can be found in the pantry, all that was missing was the fish. I made the ginger oil before he arrived, but waited to chop, cut, and assemble the rest of the ingredients until he arrived.
Upon assembly, I realized that I didn’t have any won ton skins on hand (not really one of my pantry staples), so I sent the teenagers to the market. They couldn’t find the won ton skins(never thought to call and ask…boys), but they managed to bring home 2 pints of ice cream and some other crap, that I NEVER buy and is way too disgusting to mention. I improvised with some tortilla chips. I ate it sans the chips and when the tartare disappeared, they asked for more. With a fridge full of freshly caught blue fin tuna, I couldn’t refuse.
Blue Fin Tuna Tartare
Ingredients:
1 pound high grade Ahi tuna
8 scallions, finely chopped
1 cup (about 4) organic, japanese cucumbers, finely chopped
1 stalk of celery, finely chopped
1 avocado, diced
3 Tablespoons wheat free Tamari (or soy sauce)
3 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 teaspoons finely grated, fresh ginger
1 clove garlic, minced
3 Tablespoons ginger oil
a splash of Sriracha
2 Tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
10 grinds of fresh ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon Celtic sea salt
Instructions:
Chop tuna into small chunks and place in the fridge.
Make ginger oil: combine lots of ginger peel and about a 1 cup of sunflower oil in a heavy duty saucepan. Heat oil over medium heat, about 5 minutes. Let steep for a few hours. Let cool, strain, and store in a glass jar.
In a large, glass bowl, combine the scallions, cucumbers, celery, salt, and pepper.
In another bowl, combine the tamari, rice wine vinegar, ginger, garlic, ginger oil, and Sriracha. whisk to combine.
Toss tuna, vegetable mixture, and dressing to combine. Add avocado and sesame seeds. season to taste.
Serve on fried won ton skins, tortilla chips, or eat right out of the bowl.
Susan Salzman writes The Urban Baker blog to explore her dedication to good food in the hope of adding beauty to the lives of her family and friends.