Fresh (sorta) Pink Tuna Steaks

Tuna, growing up, was out of cans.  Starkist, Bumblebee and other firms were a basic staple after peanut butter and jelly.  It took awhile but eventually, we were introduced to fresh tuna.  This was in Miami, Florida by my late, beloved, ebullient, honorary Uncle Alan who loved both sushi and fresh tuna.   DH and Uncle Alan became major fans, I less so.  Tuna could be white or even (aargh) grayish in color and I didn’t always care for how dry the taste was (compared to salmon) or this slightly bitter aftertaste.  So, I figured my beloved could enjoy his tuna in a restaurant and in any case, it was very difficult to come by in Israel.

Then, through the joy of importation of frozen goods, they started bringing in tuna.  Mostly they were still these dark scary looking ones, occasionally they were white and then lo and behold the pink tuna arrived and it looked so good I decided we had to try it.

starting the process in the teflon pan

They are aesthetically pleasing to the eye, and finally, for me, yummy to the palate.  This version of tuna has no bitter aftertaste and if cooked correctly, is not dry (or bloody, I HATE fish with a raw middle although DH has no problem with it.  Thus, the joy here, I’ve learned to prepare it so we are both happy).

I’m a big fan of Calphalon non-stick pans, they really are non-stick and give you ease of cooking.

Tuna can also be grilled but I find the fine tuning needed for not overcooking it works far better on the stovetop, at least for me.

Pink Tuna Steaks in Teriyaki Sauce

2 Pink Tuna Steaks (they are packaged 2 together here)

Prepared Teriyaki sauce OR

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon ketchup

1 teaspoon sweet chili sauce

If using prepared sauce, you can get right to it.  Otherwise, simply blend the ingredients for the sauce well and proceed.

Remove the tuna from the package, wash and pat dry with paper towels.

Take your nonstick pan and heat till hot (but not smoking).  Coat the top of the tuna with the sauce, flip and place on hot pan sauce side down (do not grease pan).  Watch the tuna like a hawk, you will see (it’s actually really cool) the cooking tuna have white rising up from the bottom of the pan.

half cooked tuna steak-note the rising white line

Just before you flip when nearly to the middle (see pic) coat the top again with sauce (again, newly sauced top goes to bottom touching pan).  You will see the heat rising through the tuna again.  The trick is not to overcook.  When the mark has nearly reached the middle (now from both sides) you should lift up tuna steak (carefully) to see if browned nicely and remove from heat.  The tuna should be cooked through leaving a thin pink line in the middle.  This keeps it still juicy but not raw in the middle.  This is fabulous with fresh broccoli parboiled with a bit of salt and butter and hassleback potatoes (a recipe to come, stay tuned!).

P.S. I had some leftover tuna.  I took it to work with a fresh salad of baby lettuce, cherry tomatoes and red pepper, chunked the tuna and tossed together with olive oil, a drizzle of honey and dijon mustard. Umyum.