2015 Cooking Club Week 12: Tuna Carpaccio

In a terrific restaurant in Dingle some time ago, I had Tuna Carpaccio as a starter. This is my attempt at recreating it at home. Carpaccio can be fish or meat, usually served raw in very thin slices, though you can sear the outside and serve rare. In this recipe, I've used fish, though you could use beef if you prefer.

It serves two very generously as a starter. (well actually 2 generous starters and we both had seconds and I still had a few slices left for snacking on later on, so if you were serving up for 4 you would probably get enough out of 250g-300g, and have enough of the dressing without increasing quantities below.) As a starter dish, I like it because its one you can prepare beforehand, looks more effort than it actually is, and its served chilled so if it was being served as part of a three course meal, you can concentrate on the main dish or enjoying the wine company instead.

Ingredients:
200g tuna steak.
Large bunch of fresh Dill

Large bunch of Coriander
1 tablespoon Soy Sauce
1 green Chilli - I removed the seeds, if you like a bit more heat you can keep some in, but it might overpower the rest of the ingredients if you have it very hot.
Juice and zest of 2 Limes
1 tablespoon of Sesame Oil
3 tablespoons of Rice Wine Vinegar
3 tablespoons of Olive Oil
1 tablespoon Sesame seeds.

Method:
Chop dill and coat the outside of the tuna with it. If you want to sear the tuna briefly on the outside do it at this point, on a high temperature, briefly so its still rare and leave to cool. Wrap it tightly in cling film and chill for a couple of hours (or overnight)

Toast sesame seeds in a dry pan until golden brown. Although the recipe only needs 1 tablespoon, I toast more than that just to have in the kitchen, to sprinkle on other things too. Set aside the sesame seeds to cool.

Put the rest of the ingredients in a blender or a liquidiser and blend to a smooth liquid. Add in three quarters of the sesame seeds after blending, so they stay whole in the dressing. Taste and adjust the dressing if necessary.

To serve, thinly slice the fish, arrange on a side plate with a bit of side salad, and drizzle a small amount of the dressing on the tuna. Sprinkle a few toasted sesame seeds over the tuna and serve.

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Apologies, I did have a picture, but cant find it now!

The tuna steak I used was frozen sashami grade. You ideally want sushi/sashami grade tuna. A fresh tuna steak will be lovely and pink, whereas a defrosted one is slightly browner tinged. Taste-wise there is no difference but depending on your supplier they may only have frozen in stock.

Some variations of tuna carpaccio recipe say you can slice it when frozen, which would let you slice it thinner than you might if it wasn't frozen. I think I'd try it this way the next time, though I did manage to slice mine very thinly.