Ahi Tuna Seaweed Salad
You may have to visit a few of your favorite specialty shops to complete this dish but, it will be well worth the effort. Because Chef J has refined his touch with Asian fusion so well, giving this simple yet delicious appetizer a try at home will leave you wanted to try a few other Asian ideas from the kitchen of Chef Jason Groten. You can visit Atlantic Seafood in Old Saybrook to find both the best Ahi Tuna and the seaweed. While we may think this dish could be a bit tricky, it really is quit simple. The slight heat from ginger combined with the crisp cucumbers and spicy mayo will finish the effort successfully and entice you to try asian more often. Here we go.
Seaweed Salad
serves four
- Dry sheets of Seaweed (3/4 oz)
- 1 tsp finely grated Fresh Ginger
- 3 Tbls. Soy sauce
- 1 English Cucumber shaved and julienned (about 4 inch strips)
- 1 tsp. sugar
- 3 Tbls. rice wine vinegar
- 3 Tbls. water
- Ahi Tuna (6 oz per serving about 1 1/2 in. thick)
- 1 1/2 tps ground coriander seeds
- 1 tps ground sczechwan peppercorns
- pinch red pepper flake
- 2 Tbls of mayo
- 1/2 tps Sriracha Chile Sauce
- Tobikko (fish roe found at Fromage)
- black poppy seeds
Cut the seaweed into 1/4 inch strips. Marinate the seaweed in the soy sauce and grated ginger for 10 minutes. Crush the coriander seeds and combine with crushed szechwan peppercorns and pinch of red pepper flake to produce your ahi tuna rub. Rub all sides of tuna with the rub. Let sit for about 10 minutes. For the pickled ginger add the 1 tsp. of very thinly sliced ginger to the water and rice vinegar with the sugar and salt and cook until the heat is gone from the ginger. Grill the rubbed tuna for about 5 minutes on each side for medium rare result. While the tuna is on the grill combine 2 tbls of mayo with the Sriracha Chile Sauce for the spicy mayo.
Place the julienned cucumber on the plate and top with slices of the grilled tuna. Pile the marinated seaweed on the tuna and top with a few pieces of the pickled ginger. Top with 1 tsp of the Tibikko. Spoon the spicy mayo onto the plate and sprinkle the presentation with the poppy seeds. At Gabrielles we drizzle the plates with a sweet chile sauce. We make our own in big batches but for home use we suggest you try some of the sweet chile sauces available at many fine specialty grocery stores, like Fromage in Old Saybrook, CT or the Local Beet and Wheatmarket, both in Chester, CT.
