Even though I support the movement of eating locally and the idea of limiting your consumption to a 100 mile radius, I must admit that one of the nice things about our modern world is the availability of fresh ingredients and the exposure we have to new flavors. As I was growing up the only fish we ever grilled was Rainbow Trout caught fresh from a stream or lake. Then much later we graduated to Salmon and Halibut and other purchased fish. Still, the only Tuna I ever ate then came from a can.

Nowadays, you can get good quality fresh fish even at the membership warehouse type stores like Costco. It’s not super cheap but as an occasional treat it doesn’t break our budget.
The Ahi Tuna I’ve grilled here cost just over $13.00 and gave us just over four servings.

I immersed the Ahi in an Asian inspired marinade for about ten minutes and then Rick grilled it to what I would call medium rare. We sliced and served it over a slaw of Napa cabbage, carrots, scallions, fresh pineapple and mandarin orange topped with toasted almonds and sesame seeds with a sweet/sour vinaigrette. With grilled asparagus on the side it was a fresh dinner that really hit the spot. I served a couple of pieces of purchased California roll sushi for an appetizer. Mmmm. Check out your local Asian market for any ingredients you’re not familiar with- you may be delightfully surprised at what you find there!

Marinade for Ahi

• one large lime, juice and zest
• 2 Tablespoons Dark Soy sauce
• 1/4 cup Nuoc Mam (Fish sauce)
• 2 Tablespoons Black Vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Sriracha chile paste sauce
• 1/4 cup Shao Xing cooking wine
• shredded carrot
• 2 green onions sliced
• 1 clove garlic minced

Mix all together and put into a glass pie plate. Put the fish into the marinade for only about 10 minutes- fish doesn’t endure long marinades well – particularly if acidic ingredients are included.

Grilling Tuna-

You can grill it or sear it. To sear you want higher heat for less time on each side so that only the outside of the fish cooks. Use only fish you’re sure is really fresh and has been handled correctly for this method since the interior is basically raw. To grill use med high to high heat and about 3-4 minutes on each side- cooking past med rare will make the outside of the fish much drier and more the texture of canned tuna. I don’t love either dry or raw fish so I stay at medium rare.

Napa Slaw

• 1 head of Napa Cabbage cleaned and shredded
• 2 medium carrots, julienned
• 2 green onions, white and green parts sliced
• 2 radishes sliced
• 1/2 cup fresh pineapple chunks
• 1/2 cup chilled bottled mandarin orange segments drained
• 1/4 cup cilantro washed and minced
• 1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted
• 1/8 cup sesame seeds, toasted
• Gyoza wrappers cut into quarters and pan fried in a little canola oil (or can use egg-roll or wonton wrappers cut in strips)
• Dressing

Put all of the ingredients except the nuts, seeds and gyoza wrappers in a bowl. Pour half of the dressing over and toss. Add extra dressing if needed. Garnish with almonds, sesame seeds and gyoza triangles. Serve the tuna on top.

Dressing

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 2 Tablespoons toasted slivered almonds
• 1 Tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
• 1/4 cup fresh pineapple chunks
• pinch salt and pepper

Place all ingredients in a blender and whiz up until blended and it becomes a bit emulsified. It will be pretty and pink and a nice sweet/sour foil for the salad.

Enjoy! xoxo