Do you like Tuna?

Steaks that is...not the canned stuff in water...

When Husband and I were dating we ate dinner together a lot - I was in school in the evenings for the entire time we were dating pretty much so the nights I had off, we often hung out at his apartment - he would cook dinner while I worked on homework and then we would watch a movie. At some point we made the decision to try to eat "healthier". To us this meant vegetarian or fish at least one night a week. Neither of us had really cooked fish before so we consulted with Husband's brother, Nick, who is a chef (currently Executive Sous Chef at Reata in Fort Worth - visit the restaurant if you're ever there - get the buffalo steak...yum!). He gave us a great recipe for Tuna Steaks that has never failed (even with the modifications we've made just based on what we had on hand).

Living in Honduras, we don't always get the freshest seafood (unless you go to the coast). We buy most of our meat at PriceSmart - the Costco/Sam's type warehouse store. Generally you know it is stored correctly and of good quality - not that I'm saying the other grocery store's meats aren't - just that I know PriceSmart's are. Even at PriceSmart you have to be careful - I'm not sure they monitor the meats once they put them in the cases so it's always smart to check and buy the meat that was put out most recently. Fish especially - with the tuna it starts to look gray and you know that then you definitely don't want to buy it. We try to buy it the day it was put out - if we can get it still fully frozen that's what we do. When we do find the Tuna frozen we always buy it...it's a nice treat.

So here's the what you need....

Soy Sauce, Rice Vinegar, Honey, Sesame Oil and Red Pepper Flakes 

(and Tuna Steaks of course...plus salt and pepper)

First you'll want to salt and pepper your Tuna Steaks...then sear both sides - basically to whatever done-ness you prefer.

(Do you like our grill pan? My sister bought it for Husband for Christmas)

Then you'll need to remove them to a plate for a few minutes.

Pretty nice grill marks, right? This is a little more done than we usually like our tuna...but since when we buy it frozen we prefer to cook it a little more.

So next you'll mix all the glaze ingredients together and pour them in the pan...let it thicken up a little then put the Tuna back in for about 30 seconds per side.

We've done this before in a regular skillet, and I really think it works a little better because generally a skillet is smaller so it the glaze is where the tuna is and only where the tuna is (this means more glaze on the tuna and the glaze is so yummy!)

We eat ours with Wasabi - it's a good match (sorry about the dark picture - it gets dark at like 6:00 here).

Here's the recipe! Enjoy!

Nick's Asian Glazed Tuna Steaks
(measurements are approximate - adjust to taste)

1 t. Sesame Oil
2 T. Soy Sauce
1 T. Rice Vinegar
1 T. Honey
Red Pepper Flakes
Tuna Steaks

Mix the glaze ingredients together.
Sear Tuna Steaks to desired done-ness. Remove to a plate.
Pour glaze into hot pan and let thicken.
Return Tuna Steaks to pan and cook for 30 seconds per side.

Serve with Wasabi.


Note about Wine Pairing: We drank Joseph Faiveley Bourgogne Passetoutgrains 2008 which is a red Burgandy wine from France. For seared tuna, a Pinot Noir is recommended and this was as close as we could get! For spicy tuna (which this could qualify), they recommend a Pinot Grigio. Husband thinks that a sweet Reisling would work pretty well too.