Tuna Steak Recipes, Thanks!

January 30, 2011 4:32 PM

I have some tuna steaks, and I'd like to cook it up. I won't be eating it sashimi-style or raw. I'm already familiar with the sear-and-serve method of preparation; are there any other creative ways for me to cook this tuna?

The tuna steaks were given to me frozen. I'm defrosting them as we speak, and I plan on cooking it for dinner tonight (Pacific Standard Time). Thanks!

posted by jabberjaw to Food & Drink (17 answers total)

How timely! My boyfriend and I are making some fish tacos right now (for the first time). We're using mahi-mahi, but I've seen tuna recommended in recipes before. If it's been frozen, it's not going to taste as good with a sear & serve or any kind of rare/raw preparation, so I say season those suckers up and slap them in a tortilla.

Time for me to return to the kitchen...
posted by phunniemee at 4:47 PM on January 30, 2011

My boss likes to marinade them in Italian dressing before he grills them. Quite tasty...
posted by litnerd at 4:54 PM on January 30, 2011

Gently poached in olive oil, kinda like a confit.

The recipe was for chunks to be served in an elegantly styled nicoise salad. The chunks of tuna should be medium rare when removed from the oil.
posted by jbenben at 5:06 PM on January 30, 2011

You could chop them or smash them up in a food processor and make dumplings/gyoza/potstickers.
I think frozen then thawed will have a weird texture for ceviche.
posted by Ideefixe at 5:08 PM on January 30, 2011

You can encrust it with something like almonds, sesame seeds, black pepper, cornflakes, whatever you have in your pantry.

Or I like to make curried tuna salad with tuna not from the can. Just poach and flake.
posted by getmetoSF at 5:10 PM on January 30, 2011

Tuna burgers
posted by gomichild at 5:13 PM on January 30, 2011

I wanted to second getmetoSF's recommendation above. Any type of tuna salad made with tuna you cooked yourself puts canned tuna to serious shame. It's a totally different experience.
posted by ORthey at 5:23 PM on January 30, 2011

OK, I just finished and ate the fish tacos. OMG yum. You should totally have fish tacos.

-Taco seasonings on the fish, pan seared and finished in the oven.
-Salsa of (raw) onion, cilantro, lime juice, jalepenos, and Fage yogurt (sour cream).
-On a tortilla.
-With trader joe's chipotle salsa to finish it off.
posted by phunniemee at 5:33 PM on January 30, 2011

I had tuna last night, simmered the chunks in a sauce made with fresh mango, papaya, pineapple jam, a bit of wine and a pinch of cumin. It was delicious. Cook just into done, serve with coconut rice.
posted by meringue at 5:38 PM on January 30, 2011

This was quite tasty, tuna simmered in a date sauce, the recipe is here. It is an ancient Roman recipe that you can swap out certain herb ingredients if not available like rue.
posted by jadepearl at 5:52 PM on January 30, 2011

Here's a simple recipe for seared tuna steaks with avocado and cilantro lime dressing, I have been intending to try it out.
posted by illenion at 6:20 PM on January 30, 2011

Seconding the Italian dressing. Marinade them for about an hour and then grill to medium rare. Most excellent.

Grilling while brushing/basting with soy sauce is another excellent option.
posted by Benny Andajetz at 7:01 PM on January 30, 2011

Thanks guys! Fish tacos. Need to get fresh tortillas from the nearby Mex food joint.
posted by jabberjaw at 7:13 PM on January 30, 2011

Probably too late for your dinner tonight, but in case someone comes back to this thread, here's my favorite tuna steak recipe (courtesy of my parents, who learned it from a fellow camper on a beach in Spain not far from Cadiz):

- gently fry a couple of finely sliced onion (gotta be a healthy amount) and garlic in a generous pour of olive oil
- when the onion have softened (probably 15-20 minutes -- remember the 'gently fry' part) add 3-4 sun-ripened tomatoes cut into eights (if you're good you will have peeled them beforehand, if not you have to be ok with having some tomato skin in your dish).
- cover the pan and let the tomatoes cook/disintegrate in the now very soft onions
- add the tuna steaks and keep the lid on for another 10-15 minutes -- super wonderful, non dry tuna steak with scrumptious onion/tomato sauce is what's for dinner!
posted by AwkwardPause at 7:24 PM on January 30, 2011

Blitz in a food processor to make Thai fish cakes.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 8:28 PM on January 30, 2011

Heh, I was just coming suggest a method I improvised the other day for salmon, but Awkward Pause beat me to it. I'm not surprised that it's a traditional Spanish or Mediterranean technique. I've been doing it with canned tomatoes, and letting them reduce for a while before tossing the tomato/onion/garlic mixture over the fish and sticking it in the oven. (Reducing just means simmering with the lid off to allow some of the moisture to escape, concentrating the flavors.) It's a very, very tasty method and would work great with most reasonably thick fish. You could even add chickpeas and/or vegetables and have a one dish meal.
posted by mollweide at 6:27 AM on January 31, 2011

Just want to note for the sushi/ceviche and freezing question - all fish sold in the US for consumption raw or rare (anything marked "sushi-grade") is frozen at sea to kill parasites. Tuna is the only exception to the rule, but it's almost always frozen, too, for convenience.

The flash freezing used on commercial fishing boats is quick and better at preserving quality than home freezing, but in a situation where the fish was frozen at sea and then kept frozen until it got home, it's exactly the same as the fish you buy specifically for sushi. It's probably exactly the same as the fish in your less-discerning sushi joints, actually.
posted by peachfuzz at 10:48 AM on January 31, 2011