I was in an awful mood. It doesn’t happen too often (you’d have to ask the fiancée for a complete total), but it made for a tense evening. Cooking is usually a therapeutic process, but not that night. Neither of us had any desire to leave the house, but the fridge wasn’t holding any answers to the dilemma. A quick glance in the freezer revealed some frozen tuna filets (a long ago purchase from Trader Joe’s), and after a quick google search I found seared sesame tuna filet with wasabi mayonnaise. It sounded vaguely exotic and yet I had everything ready to go.
Well, almost. The only thing I didn’t have was the wasabi, but I did possess some red chili paste. I’d have the kick. But I was a tad leery about mixing the Asian cooking staple with my true-blue American Hellmann’s. The fears amounted to nothing, as the sauce came together perfectly and provided the key balance to this fantastic dish.
- serves 2 -
1/2 pound tuna filet
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1 tablespoons mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon red chili paste
2 tablespoons canola oil
1. Defrost the fish, if not using fresh. Then place in a small bowl and pour in the soy sauce. Let it marinate for 20-30 minutes, flipping the filet halfway through.
2. Dry the tuna on a paper towel. Dump the sesame seeds onto a plate and spread them out. Coat each side of the filet with the seeds by laying the tuna on top of them and pressing lightly down. Repeat on the other side.
3. Heat the oil in a skillet over high heat. When it’s hot, place the fish in the skillet and cook for a 1-2 minutes per side. I like mine rare, add another minute if you want it cooked all the way through. Turn off the heat and remove the fish.
4. Mix together the mayonnaise and the red chili paste.
5. Slice up the fish—if you like that sort of thing—and drizzle the sauce over top.
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