Anyone have a good fresh tuna recipe?

I just got some great fresh tuna. I normally just quick sear in an iron fry pan with a tiny bit of sesame oil. I like that, but I’m looking for another idea because variety is the spice of life. Any ideas?

Do a cilantro pesto - works really well with seared tuna.

I hate cooked tuna. I don’t even like a sear — reminds me of cat food. My favorite is just dicing it then adding a bit of high quality soy sauce, sesame oil, a touch of sherry vinegar served with rice or nacho chips. Maybe add some avocado.

is tartare out the question, Jay?

Alright, this may be more than you wanted to hear

We get a lot of fresh albacore in season (Summer) here in the upper left corner, usually buy off a fishing boat at the coast. Or for an great day fishing, resulting in very fresh but not cheap albacore, go out on a charter fishing boat. Some we keep fresh to eat for a couple of days, we cut the rest into steaks, then vacuum pack and freeze some , smoke and freeze the bellies, and pressure can the scraps and ends. It keeps very well and tastes great the rest of the year with all of these methods.

So our go-to recipe for albacore is from Janie Hibler’s fantastic cookbook “Dungeness Crabs and Blackberry Cobblers - The Northwest Heritage Cookbook”. Don’t see why it wouldn’t work with any other kind of fresh tuna for more of an Italian treatment than the sesame oil and sesame seed crusted approach. Can’t figure out how to attach a photo of the recipe, sorry . It can easily be scaled up to cook for a crowd.

• Cover the bottom of a baking dish with thin fresh lemon slices
• Place fresh tuna steaks on top, drizzle generously with a mixture of EVOO and oil oil from a jar of sun-dried
  tomatoes, sprinkle fish with 1t (we like more) fresh rosemary, salt and pepper, marinate for one hour.
• Make a paste in blender or food processor: 3T oil packed sun dried tomatoes, 1 peeled garlic clove (we like more than 1), 2T EVOO, that is for 1 1/2 lbs of tuna, can scale up.
• Grill over hot grill, 4 mins on first side for thick steaks (we use gas grill with Alder wood chips in smoker box),
  brush more marinade on top side of tuna steaks, then turn them over and spread the tomato-garlic paste on what
  is now the top side and grill another 2-3 mins. Depending on how pink you like them inside, can shorten the
  cooking times.
  We always serve with pasta, either pesto, or pasta Bianca with any excess tomato garlic paste thrown in, paired with an Oregon Pinot noir. There are microwave instructions also but we have never tried that and don’t think we ever will.

That sounds good, Alexandre. One of my favorite old school Italians here, Osteria Angelini, does a swordfish steak with basil pesto and seared tomatoes. Basil wouldn’t be the first herb I’d think of to pair with fish, but somehow it works in that dish. Your dried tomato pesto sounds like it would be an ideal partner to a seared meatier fish served with just buttered and parsley pasta. I’ll have to try that one next time I do some meaty fish.

I like this recipe, though I normally use cracked black pepper instead of Sichuan peppercorns: Seared tuna with Sichuan pepper and soy-mustard sauce

Years ago I made a recipe where you cut the tuna into rectangular shapes, about 1” x 1” x width of the tune slice. Brushed it with mustard and then coated it with a citrus zest/bread crumb mixture, then, seared on the four sides

We eat Tuna at least every other week.
I blacken it on the grill. Also known as “bronzing.” Neutral oil (I use peanut) to get the blackening seasoning to stick. I make my own. Then into the fridge until the fire is hot. Then on the hot fire minute or two on each side depending on thickness. Sometimes i serve a mustard sauce like Ruth’s Chris. Sometimes it is an asian kind of thing with a Wasabi Mayo. Sometimes Sambal Olek mixed with Mayo and lime Juice.
You can also do the same thing in a carbon steel pan.
We also make 420 Nachos.
After doing the above either in a pan or grill, dice the tuna about 1/2 inch or so. Scatter on the Sweet Heat Dorito Nacho chips. Dress with Avocado, Green Onion, Cucumber, Jalopeno. Then Drizzle Sweet Soy, Wasabi Mayo, Eel Sauce, Sriracha over the top. If i can find a photo i’ll post…

+1! I was thinking of this one, too.

What kind of tuna? I think some are assuming you mean bluefin.

I was assuming Yellowfin which is what is most commonly available to us. Both fresh from fishing friends and at places like Costco. We also get Blackfin, but that is never in the marketplace. Due to regulations in the GOM, Bluefin is usually over in January. It has to be a bycatch as it is illegal to target.

This is one of our go-to tuna recipes
[u]https://www.emerils.com/122490/peasant-style-tuna-meat-juices-and-fried-parsnips[/u]

Peasant Style Tuna With Meat Juices And Fried Parsnips
YIELD: 4 servings


INGREDIENTS

4 tuna steaks, about 6 ounces each, about 1 inch thick
2 teaspoons Creole Seasoning
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup chopped yellow onions
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 cup peeled, seeded, and chopped fresh or canned Italian plum tomatoes
1/4 pound kalamata olives, pitted and halved (3/4 cup)
1/4 pound large green olives stuffed with pimientos, halved (3/4 cup)
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
3 tablespoons chopped green onions (scallions), green parts only
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley leaves
1 tablespoon shredded fresh basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup Duck Stock
Fried Parsnips
Creamed Potatoes with Spinach and Roasted Garlic
DIRECTIONS

Season both sides of each tuna steak with the Creole seasoning.
Heat a large sautÈ pan over high heat for 2 minutes. Sear the steaks for 1 minute and turn over. Add 1 tablespoon of the butter, the onions, salt, and cayenne. Cook for 1 minute and remove the steaks.
Add another tablespoon of the butter to the pan and continue to cook the onions for 3 minutes, stirring. Add the tomatoes, olives, garlic, green onions, herbs, and black pepper and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 1 minute. Return the tuna steaks to the pan and add the remaining tablespoon butter. Cook for 1 minute, basting the steaks with the sauce. Remove from the heat.
To serve, stack fried parsnips on top of each tuna steak on individual plates and serve with the creamed potatoes.

Well this is frustrating - by way of something different - there’s a preparation I made a few times some years ago wherein the tuna is coated in mushroom dust (blitz dried mushrooms) seared and served with pinot noir sauce with Asian elements (hoisin sauce iirc but I forget the other components). Im sorry this is not much help; Ive tried searching for the book but its gone AWOL - “Cooking with Wine”. Perhaps these notes will ring a bell with someone. Of course its design to match with a nice Pinot (to drink). Pretty sure I used Oregon Pinot Noir. Writing this Im wondering why I havent done this recently!