Jump to content
  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

Tuna Tartares, ceviches and such...


CharityCase

Recommended Posts

I'm doing a party on Saturday that will have a few different seafood apps...oysters, shrimp, scallops and the like.

I'd like to do a tuna tartare but I would love some suggestions other than soy/wasabi and asian flavours. I say this only because I've had it/seen it very often and surely in the wealth of intellect on eGullet there's someone with a novel idea for this?

I don't think that tuna would suit all the acids of a ceviche...maybe you've got other ideas? In either case the format should be easy to handle as an appetizer and not too messy.

Many thanks eG folk!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree tuna ceviche is wonderful the firm flavorful tuna holds up very well to the citrus flavor

there are many recipes Asian inspired and not so Asian inspired for Hawaiin Poke as well you might want to do a search for that and see if you like any of those ..

I love the Korean style Kimchee Poke that is really just kimchee juice and tuna with some sesame oil

there is a black bean poke

you can even make a home made Italian style salad dressing and marinate the tuna in that if you like

or orange juice and coconut milk with some salt pepper and garlic

hope this helps

why am I always at the bottom and why is everything so high? 

why must there be so little me and so much sky?

Piglet 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Treat tuna like steak.. Do capers, shallots, a little egg yolk for binding, make a dressing with shallots, banyuls, olive oil, and some cilantro..Let the shallots chill in the banyuls before adding the oil..

Edited by Daniel (log)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

For ceviche my two favorite fish are monk and blue.. I make these in a cream sauce spiced heavily with minced garlic, cream, and a little horseradish.. Soak the fish in lime juice for an hour or less.. Then take out and but in the cream with a little more lime juice.. Add the garlic, red onion, horseraddish, and then try to find the puffed corn that they use in Peruvian dishes..

Edited by Daniel (log)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like to serve tuna (usually pan seared rare, but raw would work) with a short cooked tomato sauce of:

Olive oil

small bit garlic

diced sweet onion

fresh or good canned plum tomatoes, chopped

3 or 4 diced anchovy fillets

5 diced black olives

juice of 1/2 lemon

salt and pepper to taste

Ingredient quality makes a big difference here, worth it to use good EVOO, tomatoes, anchovies, and olives.

Saute the garlic and onion for a couple minutes. Add the anchovy and olive for a couple minutes. Add the tomatoes and simmer a few minutes until flavors blend. Add the lemon juice a little at a time, tasting until it's lemony enough. Slice the tuna and nap with a discreet amount of sauce. Crusty bread or croutes are good with it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not really novel, this is adapted from the "Elephant Walk" restaurant in Berkeley -- I really love it.

Mix cubed raw tuna and cubed very ripe avocado (about half of each) together with a sauce made from about 1/2 very high quality fish sauce, 1/2 lime juice, sweetened with some brown sugar and maybe with a little hot pepper (to taste). You can add some cilantro on top when plating it if you like. BTW: I like plating it with some height, using about a 2" diameter 2" tall bit of PVC or similar.

jk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I once did a tuna 'gravlax'. It turned out very good. Coriander and parsley were used as the herbs. I cured it for 2 or 3 days. The texture was marvelous. It was served thinly sliced with some lemon oil.

Anyone who says I'm hard to shop for doesn't know where to buy beer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Her is a easy one I used at a catering company.

Small to medium dice tuna

Right before service fold in some argan oil, red salt, bias cut scallions, then drizzle with some ponzu sauce. I don't have any amounts it's done to taste.

Here is a link for argan oil

http://stores.mustaphas.com/Detail.bok?no=2

For the ponzu

• 3 x 2 1/2 in. (8x6 cm) dried kelp (konbu)

• 1 3/4 cups (450ml) musk lime (ponzu or kala-mansi) juice, or lemon juice

• 1 3/4 cups (450ml) dark soy sauce

• 1/3 cup (90ml) mirin

• 1/4 cup (70ml) tamari soy sauce

• 4 cups (40g) dried bonito flakes

Bring the liquids to a simmer, then add the bonito. When the flakes sink strain and cool

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not really novel, this is adapted from the "Elephant Walk" restaurant in Berkeley -- I really love it.

Mix cubed raw tuna and cubed very ripe avocado (about half of each) together with a sauce made from about 1/2 very high quality fish sauce, 1/2 lime juice, sweetened with some brown sugar and maybe with a little hot pepper (to taste).  You can add some cilantro on top when plating it if you like.  BTW: I like plating it with some height, using about a 2" diameter 2" tall bit of PVC or similar.

jk

I think the Elephant walk you are thinking of is in Boston... not Berkeley.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a nice block of sushi grade frozen tuna that is destine to be made into a tartare or poke this evening for dinner. The wife and I are both working late so this will be an easy last minute dish that looks great and always taste good. I will lean heavily into the Asian flavors for this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the tips everyone. I'm going to do the Citrus Scented Tuna Tartare as above and will report back on the success. There's some other fun stuff on the menu (scallops and caviar, grilled shrimp, oysters with a smattering of condiment choices) so fingers crossed this will go off well.

Incidentally, I found an interesting seared tuna recipe on the Food Network's website that I'm also going to try out:

Seared Tuna on Star Fruit

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, the citrus-scented Tuna was a huge hit...so much so that the birthday girl didn't even get to try it! The presentation was beautiful and the only thing I would do differently next time is cut back slightly on the lemon juice..it was a tad on the acidic side.

The seared tuna on starfruit was ok...I found the accompanying aioli underwhelming though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...