If you are looking to add fish to your diet without your food tasting all ‘fishy’, try ahi tuna. These deep red fillets not only taste delicious, but they are simple to grill and only a take 30 minutes to marinade. The key to grilling a nice ahi tuna fillet is to not over cook them, you want the outside to have a crusty finish while the center remains cooked but rare. The best way to achieve this to use a hot grill (500+F) and grill ~2 mins per side. The marinade is critical to assuring the tuna does not dry out during grilling.
Ingredients
- 4 Ahi Tuna fillets, ~7oz each and 1-1.5 inches thick
- 1 cup Sesame seeds – white, toasted, and black mixed together
- Black pepper – crushed – optional to taste
- Marinade
- 8 oz Soy Sauce
- 4 TBL White wine – Sake is a good choice to stay on theme
- 4 TBL Honey
- 4 TBL Rice wine vinegar
- 2 oz Sesame oil – 8 TBL
Process
- Mise en Place: Measure and prepare your ingredients prior to starting.
- Add marinade ingredients into a 1 gallon ziplock bag and mix.
- Add tuna fillets to bag and massage until the fillets are fully coated.
- Let tuna rest in fridge for 30 mins, turning bag every 10 mins.
- Preheat grill to high and let get hot.
- Mix the sesame seeds on a plate.
- Remove tuna from marinade bag and roll in sesame seeds coating all sides.
- Press the seeds into the fillets to get a firm hold.
- Place fillets on grill and let sear ~2 mins per side.
- Want an internal temp ~125 F.
- Serve with steamed vegetables and either couscous or buttered pasta noodles.
Note: you can either discard the marinade when done, or put it in a small sauce pan and gently heat to a boil to create a mild sauce you can drizzle on the fillets when serving. You can also use the cooked marinade in a dipping bowl to dunk pieces of tuna in before eating.
