I think I waited this long to post my recipe for
Tuna Tartare because it's very difficult to photograph. I tried once before only to end up with a series of photos ...
each worse than the last!
I recall feeling intensely frustrated that the
appearance of one of my favorite appetizers
ever (through the eye of the lens)
simply wasn't appealing.
With this frustration came spontaneous, uncontrollable eating of
the subject...and alas...
there was none.
Sigh.
The only thing worse than a bad picture, was no picture at all.
So I decided it was time to once again
..."give it a go!" I needed to share the recipe with the world! ;)
Perhaps more of a
"ceviche" as the lime juice, soy sauce and spicy sriracha basically "cook" the tuna...I wanted a tuna tartare that was akin to a
Spicy Tuna Sushi Roll...
(my second favorite thing on earth ...only behind spicy salmon.)
Fresh, spicy and delicious...I like using salted ridged potato chips for scooping...as they offer just the right amount of sturdiness and crunch!
Now here are a few photos....
NOTE BELOW: This particular time I only had a regular cucumber on hand so I made certain to thoroughly scoop out its seeds.
Seedless, English cucumbers are preferred and best to use with this recipe as they wont release as much water as a regular cucumber...but sometimes we just have to use what we have!
While the pictures of the Tuna Tartare
still are not spectacular...I tried my best to capture its essence and flavor!
A crowd pleasing appetizer...the keys to seeing this
Tuna Tartare is successful... are keeping it
fresh and serving it
immediately! Enjoy!
Tuna Tartare
1/2 pound fresh quality tuna steak, very finely chopped
Juice and zest from one medium lime
1/2 tsp. Soy Sauce
1/8 tsp Sesame Oil
2 green onions, chopped
1/2 medium size cucumber, finely diced
(Seedless is preferred) *if you can't get seedless, scoop out the seeds of a regular cucumber as seen above
Kosher salt to taste
3 T. Quality Mayonnaise
1 T. Sriracha Sauce
Lots of ridged (or other sturdy) potato chips
Directions:
Prepare your sriracha mayonnaise by whisking together the mayonnaise and Sriracha sauce. Set aside.
In a medium non-reactive bowl (I use glass) add (in this order) your tuna, lime juice and zest, soy sauce, sesame oil, prepared sriracha mayonnaise, green onion and cucumber. Stir together well.
Salt only if needed - keeping in mind if you're using salted potato chips for scooping, they have their own amount of salt that will add to the overall salt content.
At this point I like to place the tuna tartare in a non-reactive strainer to rid it of any unnecessary liquid that developed as a result of the cucumber releasing some of its water. I leave the tuna tartare in the strainer about 2 minutes.
Discard and liquid that strained out, place your tartare in a bowl (or shape like above) and serve immediately with lots of sturdy potato chips.