8 Ways to Prepare Tuna Never Be Bored Again

The perfect Tuna Steak is seared on the outside and deliciously rare on the within. Cooked in 2 1/2 minutes flat, it'southward also possibly the fastest fish recipe e'er!

I'm serving this tuna with a vibrant and fresh Sauce Vierge, a calorie-free French sauce that's a modern classic for all the correct reasons. Healthy, quick and easy, this Tuna Steak as well makes for stunning presentation. Looks, sense of taste, speed and elegance – this ticks all the boxes!

Tuna Steak

There's a reason why tuna is so highly prized by the most aristocracy restaurants around the world. The belly is sought afterward for its rich and fatty mankind, while the loins – which we're using today – have a silky texture and a savoury, make clean season that isn't at all "fishy". The jewel-like hue of the loin meat meanwhile is beautiful and the basis for many a stunning-looking dish.

Yous'll often encounter tuna loin used raw for frail canapés and starters such every bit tataki, carpaccio, tartare and ceviche, to name a few. The belly meanwhile is coveted especially for sashimi. Tuna is the star of the world-famous daily tuna auction at the Tokyo fish markets, where whole tuna can sell for mind-boggling prices. (The get-go bluefin tuna of the season is peculiarly known for drawing outrageous bids for the publicity, and the current tape stands at over $3 million for a 278 kg (612 lb) tuna – that's over $10,000 / kg!!! 😳😳😳)

Such is the appeal and demand for quality tuna today. Only ordinary folk like yous and me don't demand to pay crazy prices for tuna for our purposes today!! Good quality, fresh tuna steaks are readily available from your local fish monger and are only fine!!

Should tuna steak exist raw in the heart? Yes!

If you're wondering if tuna steak should be raw in the middle, the short answer is YES. A properly cooked tuna steak should be seared on the outside but raw on the inside.

This is considering tuna steaks are cut from the loin of the fish. This role of the tuna, identifiable by its fifty-fifty, translucent pink or cherry color with little fat, is lean. Once cooked, it tends to become quite dry – call up of canned tuna and the texture it has. It's a bit like overcooked chicken breast! Every bit much equally we love our canned tuna, we don't desire to eat a whole steak of that!

Serving the tuna with a rare (raw) centre ensures the inside remains tender and succulent. Tuna that is medium or well done will start to resemble our friend the canned tuna – except without the canning oil that conveniently makes up for that dryness!

Close up of fork picking up a piece of Tuna Steak with Sauce Vierge

Unlike varieties of tuna

Different types of tuna have different qualities and culinary uses. Pictured in today's recipe is yellowfin tuna which is the most common blazon of tuna sold at fish mongers here in Australia. It's an excellent all-rounder tuna with a mild season, used for everything from sashimi / raw to canning.

The other main types of tuna y'all might come across are:

Skipjack tuna – Nearly commonly used for canned tuna, it has a stronger gustatory modality than other types;
Albacore tuna – Also used for canning; light coloured flesh;
Bluefin tuna – The most highly prized tuna for its rich mankind and eating qualities, peculiarly by the Japanese. This is the type that sells for mind-boggling prices at the famous Tokyo tuna auctions;
Bigeye tuna – Some other highly valued tuna, the second most expensive subsequently bluefin tuna; and
Ahi tuna – This is a Hawaiian name roofing both yellowfin and bigeye tuna. People in the Us know it for things like Poke Bowls.

What you need to cook tuna steak

Here'due south all you demand to melt tuna steak: fresh tuna, salt, pepper and oil. (Allow'south pretend I didn't forget the oil in my photo, despite beingness one of just three ingredients! 😂)

Choosing tuna steaks

Because tuna steak is best served rare inside, it's important to ensure the tuna is fresh. It doesn't demand to be "sashimi-grade", which is the quality required when serving the tuna entirely raw, such as with Poke Bowls, Ceviche, Tartare or as sashimi and sushi (the last two recipes are on my mother's website, RecipeTin Japan). Nevertheless, it does need to be very fresh.

And it's super-easy to tell – just smell and touch it:

How to tell tuna steak is fresh

Smells clean like the sea and non "fishy"; and
Mankind is moist but not slimy.

Trust me, you lot will know as soon equally you smell information technology if it is fresh – or non! (PS There is admittedly no shame at all in asking the fishmonger to pass the tuna over the counter and so yous tin smell it. I personally insist on information technology. Fish is expensive!)

How to melt tuna steak

The trick to cooking tuna steak perfectly is a screaming hot skillet so y'all tin can sear the outside nicely while keeping the within raw. Information technology has to be super-hot considering it'southward only on the stove for 2 one/2 minutes!

Oil and season steaks – Rub oil on the tuna steak and so sprinkle with common salt and pepper. I like to use olive oil because it has a fleck of flavour, but any oil is fine here;
Preheat skillet until smoking hot – Utilize a heavy-based skillet so it tin be preheated until information technology's so hot that y'all encounter smoke coming from the pan.

TIPS:
– Practice non use a non-stick fry pan. These are not made for high rut cooking and you lot will ruin the non-stick coating;
– Exercise not oil the skillet before preheating. It will fume out your house! If it'south a well-seasoned* cast iron pan or grill pan, equally I have used, then there'south no need to add oil into the skillet because we've oiled the tuna;
– If you need to oil a skillet (ie. if yours is not a bandage iron skillet), look until information technology is super-hot so lightly brush with oil. Use either a heat-proof basting brush, newspaper towel lightly dipped in oil, OR accept information technology off the rut then spray lightly with oil. Never spray a screaming hot skillet with oil ON a gas stove if yous value your eyebrows and your firm – it's a fire chance!!
_{* A seasoned pan is cast iron or carbon steel pan that has adult a natural non-stick patina through repeated use. Information technology should too be kept lightly oiled to stop it from rusting;}
Cook tuna – Once the skillet is very hot, place tuna in the skillet.

– How long to cook tuna: A two.5cm / 1″ thick, 200g / 7oz tuna steak should be cooked for 90 seconds on the showtime side and then 60 seconds on the other side to become a overnice sear on the outside while keeping it rare on the within.
– Target internal temperature: The target internal temperature is 48°C (118°F). This will ensure the inside is withal rare and pleasantly warm rather than stone common cold;
How to get the criss-cross grill marks – If you want to get the fancy restaurant-mode grill marks:

a) Employ a cast fe grill pan – Use a cast iron skillet with grill Iines, like that pictured in post;
b) Cook 45 seconds – Place tuna in skillet for 45 seconds;
c) Turn 45 degrees, cook another 45 seconds – Turn the tuna 45 degrees and leave for some other 45 seconds. Then flip the tuna;
d) lx seconds other side – Cook tuna steak on 2nd side for 60 seconds, then remove to a rack;

You lot will notice this means the criss-cross is practical to merely 1 side. This is to simplify the cooking. Serve the criss-cross side facing up, plainly!

Tip: For the most perfect lines, practice non move the tuna once placed in the skillet (except to rotate the one time)!
Remainder on rack – Normally, we want meats to proceed cooking as they remainder. This is sometimes called "carry over cooking". In this case, nosotros desire to minimise it considering we desire the tuna steak to remain rare inside! So I like to use a rack set over a tray to rest tuna steak, to encourage excess heat to misemploy. You rarely see me do this, I normally just utilize a plate (save washing upward and all that jazz!) So the fact that I'1000 doing it tells you that it matters!
Piece upwardly and admire! Let the tuna rest for v minutes until absurd. The cooler the tuna, the easier it is to slice and so the seared crust sets and is less likely to crumble when you lot cutting it. Information technology's actually meliorate served at room temperature since the middle of the tuna but gets to 48°C/118°F which is rare (barely above raw). If you lot serve it hot, the temperature difference between the outside and inside tin can seem jarring when yous eat.

Slicing to serve is optional. Fine dining restaurants often choose to pre-slice tuna for presentation purposes, because the striking red colour inside looks and then good!

As for what to serve with Tuna Steak? It's pictured in this post with Sauce Vierge, a kind of French salsa / vinaigrette. This light and bright sauce goes perfectly with fine and fresh-tasting tuna steak. See below for a list of more than Tuna Steak sauces and topping ideas!

Tuna Steak with Sauce Vierge, ready to be served

All-time sauces and toppings for Tuna Steak

Being a relatively mild flavoured fish, tuna lends itself for all sorts of possibilities when it comes to a sauce. Bright and fresh sauces and accompaniments piece of work best with this tuna, rather than very buttery or creamy blazon sauces (like this Lemon Cream Sauce for Fish).

Here are some suggestions:

Sauce Vierge – Pictured in the mail service, this is a summery French salsa / vinaigrette popularised by the bang-up French chef, Michel Guérard. He is known for introducing a lighter mode of French food emphasising simplicity and freshness, influences we still see in restaurants today. This sauce pairs beautifully with tuna. I peculiarly enjoy how the vinaigrette seeps into the cracks of the tuna flakes when y'all spoon it over;
Mexican salsa – The bright, jumping flavours of a Mexican lycopersicon esculentum salsa would likewise exist wonderful with tuna! Casually dollop it over like I've done with the Sauce Vierge. Pico de Gallo would too work, though I'd recommend chopping the tomato a little smaller;
Salsa Verde – Cute, fresh herbs in this simple, no-cook, pesto-like sauce make this ideal for tuna and all types of seafood, non mention its gorgeous dazzling green colour!
Pesto – A smear of basil pesto on the side would be terrific. Yous won't need much because the season of pesto is more intense than, say, Salsa Verde;
Chimichurri Sauce – South America'southward contribution to the globe of zingy, meat-friendly sauces, this parsley-garlic-olive oil sauce is a great choice for tuna;
Japanese Ginger Sauce – If yous're looking for a Japanese aptitude, use the marinade/sauce in my Tuna Poke Bowl recipe. It's fabled!
Lemon Vinaigrette – The zippy sense of taste of lemon is a natural pairing with any fish! Using a vinaigrette (ie. salad dressing) instead of plain lemon juice. The oil and other flavours adds some richness and extra sense of taste. It as well makes the dressing more viscous so it clings to the tuna better. Utilise the dressing in this Dark-brown Rice Salad recipe.

At that place's but a few ideas to go you started! 😉

Close up of spooning Chimichurri Sauce — Chimichurri sauce

Salsa Verde with Lobster — Chimichurri sauce

Sides to serve with Tuna Steak

As for sides, information technology actually depends which style you go with the flavours. More often than not I'd opt for lighter sides to keep with the fresh vibe of the tuna and sauces. Here are some suggestions:

Herby Buttered Babe Potatoes or Lemon Potato Salad
Marinated Vegetable Pasta Salad – A neat veg + starch side choice. Or try this Mediterranean Chocolate-brown Rice Salad else Wild Rice Salad;
White Bean Tabbouleh Salad – All the flavours yous love nigh tabbouleh, bulked out with beans to brand a all-in-one side;
Homemade (super easy!) crusty artisan bread + a leafy green salad with a French, Italian or classic Salad Dressing;
A big fat Greenish Bean Avocado Salad!

Scrolling back through everything I've written, this seems like an unusually long post for a recipe that supposedly takes ii 1/two minute flat to cook! 😂

Truthfully, I just want you to experience confident when you decide to try this recipe. So I accept walked through all the information I thought you lot might want to know, even if you've never cooked tuna steak before.

I hope you find it useful, and more importantly that it looks so delicious that you can't resist giving information technology a go! Remember, tuna steak is:

✔ Healthy – Low fat, low calories, high protein, and contains essential amino acids
✔ A unique and delicious fish
✔ Fine dining-worthy, merely even so affordable and can exist washed at home!

– Nagi x

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Servings 2

Recipe video above. The perfect tuna steak is seared on the outside and deliciously rare on the inside. It takes 2 ane/ii minutes flat – fastest fish recipe ever! Tuna loin is lean so best served raw or rare if cooked, to savour the tender, almost flossy flesh. There's a reason why tuna is a darling of the fine dining scene!

Best served simply slightly warm or at room temperature. Pictured with Sauce Vierge, a summery, uncomplicated French salsa / vinaigerette sauce that pairs perfectly with fish!

▢ 2 x 180 – 200g (6.5 – 7oz) tuna (skinless, boneless). 2.five-3cm / 1-one.2" thick (Note 1)
▢ 1 tsp olive oil
▢ ane/4 tsp ocean table salt
▢ 1/8 tsp blackness pepper

Cooking:

▢ 2 tsp olive oil , or oil spray

Serving suggestion (Note ii):

▢ Sauce Vierge (French salsa / vinaigrette for fish)
▢ Chervil sprigs (substitute pocket-size flat leafage or curly parsley leaves) or small-scale edible flowers (optional)

Ready resting tray: Place a rack on a tray. (Notation 3)
Oil and season tuna: Drizzle half the oil over the tuna. Smear over i side, then sprinkle with half the salt and pepper. Flip and echo.
Heat skillet: Heat skillet (preferably a skillet with grille lines) over loftier rut until smoking hot. The hotter, the better!
Oil skillet (if required): If your skillet is non well-seasoned, brush skillet with olive oil or take pan off stove and spray with any oil (Safe Alert! Note 4)
Melt offset side: Place tuna steak in the skillet (I do ane at a fourth dimension for all-time results, Note 5) and cook for 45 seconds.
Rotate for grill lines: Turn steak 45 degree. Continue cooking another 45 seconds.
Melt other side: Flip tuna carefully, then leave for one minute or until the internal temperature in the center reads 48°C / 118°F (Note 6).
Rest: Remove tuna from skillet and place on rack. Balance for 5 minutes – it will absurd down almost to room temperature. This is desirable for easier slicing and ameliorate eating (Note 7) Serve! Encounter Annotation 2 for sauce options.

Plating up – with Sauce Vierge selection (pictured):

Piece, if desired (Notation vii): Identify tuna on a board with criss-crossing grill lines facing up. Slice the tuna into 4 or 5 thick slices, holding the edges with your fingers as needed to ensure the seared surface doesn't crumble. Transfer to serving plate and split the slices slightly so they insides are just visible, or on an a slightly bending, overlapping each other.
Sauce Vierge: Spoon the Sauce Vierge over steaks, leaving small piles of lycopersicon esculentum here and there on the tuna slices, and a few on the plate. Other sauce options: Run across Note 2.
Finishing: Drizzle with a flake of olive oil. Information technology looks beautiful as information technology is, just if yous want to raise the bar even higher, add a few pocket-size sprigs of chervil and some edible flowers!

1. Tuna:

Ownership – Tuna comes cut into steaks, rather than sparse fillets you lot traditionally see with white fish
It is almost always sold skinless and boneless
A meat thermometer highly recommended – Tuna can go from perfectly rare inside to medium in the space of 30 seconds so the apply of a meat thermometer is highly recommended.
Steak size and cook times – The cook times specified in this recipe are for a 180g (6.5oz) tuna steak that is 2.5cm (1″) thick.
Thickness of tuna steak also plays a big part in melt time.

2. Serving – Pictured in postal service with Sauce Vierge, a archetype French salsa / vinaigrette which is particularly good with fish. Other ideas:

Mexican salsa – The bright flavours of a Mexican tomato plant salsa would be wonderful with tuna! Casually dollop it over;
Pico de Gallo – Chopping the tomato plant a lilliputian smaller;
Salsa Verde – A beautiful, fresh herb taste and gorgeous dazzling light-green color!
Pesto – A smear of basil pesto on the side would be terrific. Use sparingly as its potent;
Chimichurri Sauce – This Due south American parsley-garlic-olive oil sauce is a swell choice for tuna;
Japanese Ginger Sauce – Use the marinade/sauce in my Tuna Poke Bowl recipe. It's fabled!
Lemon Vinaigrette – Any vinaigrette is a natural pairing with whatever fish! Endeavour the dressing in this Brown Rice Salad recipe. Y'all can also optionally gently warm a vinaigrette for serving.

3. Rack on tray – I commonly don't insist on a rack (normally I but use a plate) just for tuna steaks I do, because air circulating under the steak means the tuna retains less heat. This discourages "comport over cooking" to minimise the danger of the tuna overcooking while resting.

iv. Oiling pan – It is best to heat the skillet without oil because it volition otherwise fume terribly.

If your pan is non well-seasoned, you lot can brush the pan with oil along with the fish. Merely castor with oil in one case already hot.

If you castor the hot pan, you need to ensure you have a heat-proof brush. Otherwise, have the pan off the stove and spray with oil (never spray a skillet over a lit gas stove – the oil can take hold of fire easily).

5. Melt one steak at a time – Tuna can get from rare to medium in 30 seconds, so fifty-fifty handling two tuna steaks can be tricky when you are seeking "perfection"! So I cook i tuna at a time when I desire to ensure information technology cooks perfectly within, and likewise when I want (near!-) perfect grill lines. It takes two 1/two minutes to cook and the inside is rare anyway, so information technology's fine to practise them one at a time.

half dozen. Doneness of tuna – It is uncommon to see tuna steaks cooked whatever more than rare inside because it's such lean meat. It tends to be quite dry if it's anything across medium rare.

vii. Slicing and serving – This is optional. It makes for squeamish presentation and is a manner restaurants plate upwards tuna steak nicely. It also makes it easier to eat.

It'due south easiest to piece when the outside of the tuna has cooled otherwise it is prone to crumbling.

TIP: Hold the edges of the tuna together when slicing, to avoid the cooked part from breaking.

All-time served at a tepid temperature. If you serve information technology hot, the temperature difference between the outside and within tin can seem jarring when you eat.

8. Nutrition per tuna steak, tuna only, ie. no sauce.

Calories: 208 cal (ten%) Carbohydrates: 1 g Protein: 35 one thousand (70%) Fat: viii g (12%) Saturated Fat: ane m (6%) Trans Fat: one g Cholesterol: 65 mg (22%) Sodium: 735 mg (32%) Potassium: 324 mg (9%) Cobweb: 1 g (4%) Vitamin A: 103 IU (ii%) Calcium: 31 mg (3%) Atomic number 26: 3 mg (17%)

Keywords: how to cook tuna, tuna loin, tuna steak

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