It’s a Saturday afternoon and I’m looking in my fridge trying to pull something together for lunch and, by golly, it’s working. Helped that I stopped and bought a couple tuna steaks this morning.
I love my Saturday afternoons. It’s the weekend, my work is done, and it’s
time to reward myself, so I want to fix an enjoyable meal. I want a meal that’s EASY, simple, fairly
quick, straightforward, down to earth, and just plain delicious. And I have one –marinated and seared tuna
with a reduced and butter-enriched sauce, served with a fragrant rice infused
with orange flavor. For accompaniments,
I have stir-fried vegetables and fried, egg roll strips with sesame seeds.
Here’s my game plan: First,
I’ll put together a marinade for the tuna. While the tuna is soaking up
flavors, I’ll put the rest of the meal together. I’ll get my rice started and I’ll fry up my
egg roll strips. Then I’ll sear the
tuna, remove it from the pan, and let it rest for a few minutes while I cook
down the marinade. Lastly, I’ll do a
quick stir fry of vegetables to plate with the tuna.
For the marinade:
2 TB Tamari sauce
2 TB mirin
2 TB sherry vinegar
1 TB hoisin sauce
2 TB brown sugar
2 Mandarin oranges, zested and juiced
Combine all ingredients, stirring until sugar is mostly dissolved.
Place tuna fillets in marinade, turning to coat.
Cook the basmati. Instead of cooking the rice in plain water, I
used a combination of orange juice and water (2:1 OJ to water) with a
bit of orange zest to give the rice somewhat of a boost. Add salt and
cook according to directions. Plop in a chunk of unsalted butter. Turn
off heat and cover.
Next, get started on the eggroll wrapper strips. I had made some
really good egg rolls the other day, so I have egg roll wrappers in the fridge that don’t keep all that well once opened and needed to be used. I cut the wrappers into thin stripes - say about 1/2 inch wide and fried them in oil in medium skillet over medium heat. When golden brown, transfer to rack to drain and sprinkle on kosher salt and sesame seeds while still slick with oil. Keep warm.
Cook the tuna:
Heat a cast iron skillet with a film of peanut oil to 425°. (I use peanut oil because it has a higher smoke point than other oils.) When it gets to temperature, drop in a chunk of unsalted butter here. When the butter stops fizzling and sizzling, gently place in the tuna steak. Time it. 2 minutes on first side; turn over, and one minute on the flip side. Remove fillet to plate and let rest for a couple minutes. Lower heat and add the marinade to the skillet and, stirring, let in bubble down and reduce a bit. Pour over the tuna fillet.
Cook the vegetables:
Add a film of sesame oil in a medium skillet and swirl around to coat.
Medium heat. Add in chopped red bell pepper and chopped onion. Cook
for about 1 minute. Drop in a yepsen* or two of spinach leaves. Add
in some lemon zest. Turn heat off and cover. Just leave the spinach
alone to sweat a bit. You don't want limp leaves. You want relaxed.
*yepsen.
A yepsen, if you don’t know it by now, is a quite useful unit of
measurement, dating back to the 1300s. It’s the amount that can be held
by two hands cupped together.
And plate:
Mound the rice. Next, add the spinach, red peppers, and onion. Then plate the tuna fillet and spoon on the sauce. Top with the fried strips.
And it’s perfect.
Cut the egg roll wrappers into strips.
And fry.
Drain on rack and sprinkle with kosher salt and sesame seeds.
For the tuna:
Cast iron skillet.
Peanut oil.
425°
Add a pat of butter.
Carefully place in steak.
2 minutes first side. 1 minute flip side.
Remove tuna steak, pour marinade in pan, and cook, stirring, until reduced a bit.
Enrich the marinade by swirling in a pat or two of unsalted butter.
Add a pat of butter, and whisk until fully incorporated.
Pour sauce over tuna.
Let tuna sit for a few minutes.
Lastly, stir-fry.
Gently sauté the onion and pepper.
Drop in the spinach.
Add a little zest, remove from heat, cover, and let wilt.
Remember, you want relaxed spinach, not limp.
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