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What to pair with seared ahi?


jgarner53

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I'm making a sesame crusted seared ahi for dinner on Saturday. Without going all out Asian (it's marinated in a soy/wasabi marinade), what should I serve with it?

"I just hate health food"--Julia Child

Jennifer Garner

buttercream pastries

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Not a very original idea and also simple, but seared greens in olive oil/garlic? (bok choy or maybe some darker greens with some bitterness).

Another interesting sidedish I've had with would be some sort of roasted beets in a low vinegar vinagrette.

Edited by ludja (log)

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I'm making a sesame crusted seared ahi for dinner on Saturday. Without going all out Asian (it's marinated in a soy/wasabi marinade), what should I serve with it?

How about a dashi-based risotto?

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OK, it finally registered in my brain that you're using shoyu in that marinade so it's not really a simple seared ahi like I've had countless times (usually good) on top of wasabi mash. If you follow my suggestion, you'll sort of have a donburi so that's probably not the way to go if you want something less Asian.

I'm now thinking "something with vinaigrette".

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One of my favourite Asian vegetable dishes is pea shoots topped with shredded dried sea scallops. The sea scallops are bathed in a slightly creamy sauce (probably has chicken stock in it). Absolutely delicious!

I'm also a fan of braised shiitake mushrooms on baby bok choy.

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Maybe a little fusion pasta? Rice noodles with dressed with olive oil, salt and pepper.

In old Italian custom, I'd skip the cheese when serving fish.

For veggies, I'd do a stir fried mix of thin julienned stuff, you pick: zuchinni, carrot fennel, leeks, red onion, peppers of any variety. Then you can crank the asian quotient up or down. Down would be a little butter, salt and pepper. Up would be a szechuan sauce of some kind.

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I like the idea of a green vegetable with some bitterness. Greens or maybe asparagus? I also find shredded raw cabbage nice with seared fish. (Some places serve slices of fish atop a bed of cabbage.)

Will you have a sauce? If not, you might consider whipping up some wasabi mayonnaise.

An alternative to rice or potatoes might be some kind of noodles, perhaps crispy. Or you could go Hawaiian and have macaroni salad.

Edited by Tess (log)
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Wow. Thanks for all the suggestions. I love the dashi risotto one, but probably not one I'll have time for this go-round. My initial thinking was wasabi mashed potatoes (love the sweet potato idea) and a bed of spinach (or maybe ong choy since it's in season) done in oil/garlic. Maybe I'll skip the marinade and just use it as a dipping sauce (it's just honey, soy sauce, and wasabi powder) instead to dial back the asian quotient a bit.

"I just hate health food"--Julia Child

Jennifer Garner

buttercream pastries

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