Tuna Steaks with Ginger-Black Pepper Sauce

Recipe: Tuna Steaks with Ginger-Black Pepper Sauce
Page: 206
Date Cooked: October 15, 2010

I am a large fan of tuna steaks. It is a great alternative to other seafood and also has the potential to appeal to red meat eating patrons. I also appreciate that tuna can be cooked very rare and accepts flavors well. And all of these aspects of tuna are accomplished in Waxman's "Tuna Steaks with Ginger-Black Pepper Sauce."

Ingredients: Limes, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, fresh ginger, coriander seeds, tuna steaks, cilantro, red bell peppers, chiles, unsalted butter, black peppercorns, olive oil 

The first step is to create the marinade for the tuna steaks. Half of the lime juice, sesame oil, vinegar, soy sauce, fresh grated ginger, and coriander seeds are all whisked together. The marinade is poured over the tuna steaks with a few cilantro springs. The tuna is then marinated at room temperature for about 30 minutes.

Tuna steaks in marinade with cilantro sprigs

While the tuna marinated, it is on to coring and stemming the peppers and chiles. Jonathan Waxman calls for the peppers to be cut into 1-x-2 inch triangles Honestly I'm not sure why exactly the peppers are cut in this manner. Initially I was under the impression it was a cooking technique but I am pretty sure it is a presentation thing. Nonetheless, I did my best to get those peppers into triangles.

Left: Cored and stemmed peppers and chiles
Right: Peppers and chiles cut into 1-x-2 inch triangles

The final component of the dish is the ginger-black pepper sauce. The peppercorns are added to butter until fragrant. In the meantime the tuna is removed from the marinade. The marinade is strained and added to the peppercorn pan, along with the rest of the lime juice. The sauce is then reduced.

The ginger-black peppercorn sauce being reduced

Now that all the components of the dish are prepared, it is on to cooking. The peppers and chiles are sautéed   in the olive oil for about 8 minutes, removed from the pan, and then covered to keep warm. In the same pan, the tuna is cooked until medium rare (a few minutes on each side). 

Pan-seared tuna until medium-rare

Simultaneously, the sauce is reheated, brought off the heat, and butter and ginger are whisked into the mixture. Now on to the final product...

Tuna Steaks with Ginger-Black Peppercorn Sauce

This dish was flavorful and tasty. The sauce had such a punch of ginger and pepper and complimented the tuna steak perfectly. Moreover, the tuna steaks were cooked to medium-rare, so you could enjoy the seared outside and yet enjoy the texture of the tuna steak. My one critique of the dish was that I had a lot of the peppers and chiles left over. Overall, I think this dish has an elegance to it and can be quite impressive when served.

Enjoy!