Tuna Tartare

[detroitdad]

Every year I try to make my son something fun for dinner. Something different. This year I plan on making him Ahi Tuna Tartare. I am thinking of stacking it on avocado and serving with some kind of pita or chip.

I have googled a few recipe ideas. I figure I would ask here to see what our esteemed cookingbites chefs have done in the past.

Feel free to post your ideas, your recipes, links to your recipes, ect.......

I won't be doing this for a couple of weeks. Jake and his lovely wife are headed to Iceland for 10 days!

The recipes that I have googled make this look pretty easy. I am thinking of pairing it with a ginger sauce. The key in this recipe appears to be "use quality ingredients"!

Thanks in advance,

Bill

 

[medtran49]

An appy we got at a fine dining was tuna on crispy rice cakes. Didn't get the Pic until we both had already grabbed one. It was little round soft and creamy but crispy on outside rice cakes, with a tower of tuna tartare, sitting on a thin glaze of thick sweet soy sauce mixed with a bit of sesame oil, with a garnish of Kewpie mayo and Wasabi mixed together, with a bit of golden tamari drizzled on top of that.

I've made this at home once. Don't have a recipe though. I used slightly over cooked jasmine rice, seasoned well, mixed with an egg roughly to break down the rice. Made balls a little smaller than a half dollar, rolled them in panko that had been whizzed in the food processor to make the bits small, then flattened with a small indentation in the center and then deep fried. I used the same flavorings for the sushi kushi for the tuna part. The rest is self explanatory.

These are little yummy bites of goodness. They were a special the first time we had them. I told Craig i bet the inspiration was a big pot of overcooked rice because it's a very small, high end restaurant and I'm sure the margins are small. They are now on the menu as a regular. Last time we were there, a couple new to the restaurant ordered a second plate of them because they liked them so much.

Then there is sushi kushi. We use Chef Norman Van Aken's recipe. We love this. The shrimp is separate, just in the picture. I googled and don't see the recipe posted. I don't remember it being complicated so I can post if you want or take a picture of cookbook and DM it to you.

You'll need a ring mold if you don't have one to stack it. If I remember correctly, the sauce is ginger based and I can eat just the sauce by itself.

 

[karadekoolaid]

Hey, detroitdad - I've made this a few times, including for my nephew's wedding. Can't for the life of me find the recipe so it's clear I never wrote it down. Anyway, I gave it a distinctly Asian twist and tried to highlight the tuna. Here's the guidelines; I'm not posting it as a recipe (unless the mods insist) because the quantities are not exact, but it should give you a good idea:
500 gms (just over 1lb) sashimi grade red tuna, diced
2 green onions, finely chopped
2 pieces lemongrass, white part finely diced
1 or 2 Napa cabbage leaves, finely shredded
1/2 medium red pepper, diced
1" fresh ginger, grated
1-2 fresh green chiles, diced (optional if you don't like the heat)
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
Lime/lemon juice

I prepare all the veggies first and mix together with all the seasoning.
If the ginger sounds too much, use 1 tsp of pickled ginger, with a bit of rice wine vinegar, and blitz it in the food processor.
Once you're happy with the flavours (and you can adjust the sesame oil, the soy, the rice vinegar, the onion, the salt, etc.) then mix in the tuna. Taste again until you're happy with the result.

And yeah, by all means serve on a bed of avocado. That sounds great.
Hope this helps.

EDIT:
Just found a photo from the wedding.

 

[detroitdad]

Thank you! this is helpful, and is giving me a few more ideas