Since we are urban apartment-dwellers, grilling = broiling for us. It’s like an upside down grill! Or at least ours is, because the heat source (flame) points down from the top of the oven – not everyone’s broiler is the same. Check yours out.
We made this on a cast-iron, enameled grill pan (like this) to get a nice sear and the grill marks on it (which serve a purpose – searing protein creates a Maillard reaction which intensifies umami, also known as savoriness). It helps a lot if you heat your grill pan up under the broiler, place your food on it (it will sizzle!) then put it back in the broiler. Nice! These tuna steaks are a hearty treat. We probably could have made them a little less well-done, which we will try next time. The dipping sauce is pretty intense, especially if you add wasabi – you gotta try it. Wasabi nose, whee!! (That feeling you get when the wasabi heat goes up in your nose! Ever notice how chile heat affects your mouth and lips but wasabi heat affects your nose? Know why? Me neither!)
GRILLED TUNA STEAKS WITH SESAME GINGER DIPPING SAUCE
Adapted from Fish: Complete Guide to Buying and Cooking by Mark Bittman
Sauce adapted from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian: Simple Meatless Recipes for Great Food by Mark Bittman
Ingredients:
For the steaks:
Two 6-8 oz. tuna steaks
1/4 c. good quality soy sauce
1 tsp. dark sesame oil
1 T. neutral oil, such as peanut or canola
For the dipping sauce:
1/4 c. good quality soy sauce
1 T. sake or rice vinegar
1 T. dark sesame oil
1 1/2 tsp. sugar
1 large garlic clove, pressed or minced
2 tsp. ginger, peeled and finely minced
2 T. scallions, sliced
Optional: Prepared wasabi (Japanese horseradish condiment)
Equipment: Grill pan like this or seasoned cast-iron skillet
Method:
To marinate the steaks: Mix soy sauce, sesame oil, and neutral oil together. Place tuna steaks in a shallow dish and coat them with the marinade. Let marinate for 15 minutes to 1 hour, turning at least once (don’t go longer or the salt will make the fish mushy).
To make the dipping sauce: Stir all the dipping sauce ingredients together until the sugar dissolves. If you like, you can stir in a little wasabi yourself, or let your diners add their own.
To cook the steaks: Put your grill pan or cast-iron skillet under the broiler and preheat the broiler and the pan together. Remove the pan from the broiler after about 10 minutes of pre-heating, and lay your marinated steaks on it (it should sizzle!).How long to broil the steaks? It depends on their size and thickness.Using your best judgment, broil for about 3-4 minutes per side (we did 5 minutes just on one side and our steaks, which were probably 3/4 inch thick, were way done – but this probably would have worked well if they were thicker). For tuna you do want at least a little pinkness inside (or a lot depending on how you like it).
Serve steaks with dipping sauce on the side and more wasabi for guests to add to taste. Enjoy!
This is a radish*rose original recipe adapted from the sources listed above. All images & content are copyright protected. All rights reserved. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish a recipe, please credit radish*rose and link back to the recipe.
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