Seared Tuna with Pistachio Crust and Papaya Salsa
This recipe from Yotam Ottolenghi's eponymous cookbook isn't quick to make, and it requires planning ahead by at least half a day, but it's certainly worth the effort.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 2¼ lb (1kg) ahi tuna loin
- 2 tablespoons olive oil plus more to coat
- coarse sea salt and black pepper
- grated zest of 1-2 lemons
- 150 g (1¼ cups) shelled pistachio nuts toasted, if desired*
- 5 tablespoons Dijon mustard
Papaya salsa:
- 1-2 small Persian cucumbers (or half an English cucumber)
- 1 large (1½ lb) ripe papaya (about 1 ⅓ cups when diced)
- 1 large ripe mango (about 1 ⅓ cups when diced)
- 2 small red chillies
- 10 g (½-inch piece) fresh ginger peeled
- 1 small red onion minced
- grated zest and juice of 2 limes
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons Thai fish sauce
- 3-4 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons sugar superfine if possible
Instructions
Seared Tuna
- Heat a large grill pan or skillet over medium-high heat.
- Cut the tuna loin lengthwise into 2-3 cylindrical pieces. There are natural divisions of the fish you can use as a guide.
- Brush each piece of tuna all over with the olive oil, then season with a couple grinds each of salt and pepper.
- Add the tuna pieces to the hot pan and quickly sear on each side, for no more than 3 or 4 minutes total. The tuna should be slightly raw in the center and just cooked on the edges (with about a ½-inch margin).
- Transfer the tuna pieces to a plate and refrigerate until well-chilled (about 30 minutes).
Papaya Salsa
- Peel the cucumber. Slice the cucumber in half, remove any seeds, then dice into ½-inch pieces. Transfer to a large tupperware container. Repeat the same process for the papaya and mango.
- Destem, deseed, and finely chop the red chili peppers, then add to the container.
- Finely mince the red onion, then add to the container.
- Grate the peeled ginger into the container, then add in the lime zest and juice, lemon juice, fish sauce, olive oil and sugar.
- Toss everything to combine, season with salt and pepper to taste (about 5-6 grinds each), and toss again. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Pistachio Crust
- Use a food processor to pulse-grind the pistachios into fine crumbs, being careful not to turn them completely into a paste. Mix the pistachios with the lemon zest and spread out on a large plate or sheet pan.
- Place 2-3 pieces of large plastic wrap on your work surface (one piece for each tuna piece).
- Put a piece of the chilled, seared tuna in the center of each piece of plastic wrap. Coat the exposed sides of the tuna pieces with olive oil, then brush generously with the mustard.
- Place the oiled & mustarded side of each tuna piece down onto the pistachio-lemon zest coating. Coat the top side of the tuna pieces with olive oil and mustard, and then roll the tuna in the pistachio coating, so that it's fully covered in nut mix.
- Return the coated tuna pieces to their piece of plastic wrap, roll the plastic wrap up tightly around each piece of fish, and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
- To serve, slice the chilled tuna into ½-3/4-inch thick slices. Serve with the papaya salsa on top or on the side.
Notes
*Toasting the pistachios will bring out their flavor but you will lose some of their bright green color.
The papaya salsa will keep for about 5 days in the refrigerator.