Jessica Gavin
Pickled Cucumbers:
- ½ cup rice wine vinegar
- ½ cup water
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon dried red chili flakes
- 26-inch Japanese or Persian cucumbers, cut into ⅛-inch slices
Soy Ginger Lime Sauce:
- 2 teaspoons ginger minced
- 6 tablespoons lime juice, about 2 limes
- 4 tablespoons soy sauce plus 2 more teaspoons
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 teaspoons water
- ½ teaspoon red chili flakes
Tuna:
- 20 ounces ahi tuna (four 5-oz pieces) about 1 inch thick
- 8 tablespoons sesame seeds (white, black, or mixture of both)
- 2 tablespoons grape seed oil or vegetable oil
Pickled Cucumbers
Combine vinegar, water, sugar, salt, and chili flakes in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Remove from heat. Add cucumber slices and stir. Let rest 10 minutes, then transfer cucumber to a sealable container and refrigerate until ready to use.
Soy Ginger Lime Sauce
Whisk together all soy ginger lime sauce ingredients together in a small bowl. Set aside until ready to serve.
Tuna
Place sesame seeds on a plate. Pat dry tuna steaks with a paper towel to remove excess water. Dredge and press tuna in sesame seeds, coating the tuna evenly. Sprinkle with more seeds as needed.
In a medium frying pan over medium-high heat, warm the oil until just smoking. Frying two portions at a time, arrange the tuna steaks in the pan (do not overcrowd) and cook until the sesame seeds start to turn golden underneath, about 1 minute. Turn the tuna over and cook for 1 minute. Sear the edges of the tuna for 15 seconds on each edge. Transfer the tuna to a plate with a paper towel, patting to gently soak up any excess oil. Repeat with remaining tuna portions. Transfer tuna to a cutting board and cut ¼-inch thick slices.
Arrange tuna on individual serving plates or bowls. Serve with pickled cucumbers and soy ginger lime sauce.
Serves 4