One-Pan Seared Tuna with Rice Noodles

A few years ago, after a life-time of being allergic to all types of fish except tinned tuna. I discovered that i could also manage to consume fresh tuna steaks without imminently looking like bubble wrap, and sounding like a wheezy Kelly Jones. This was a revelation to me (albeit an expensive one), and tuna has now taken its place as one of my favourite things to cook.

Tuna steaks are suited perfectly to asian cooking due to their delicate texture and flavour and also the fact that they can be cooked very rare allowing the lovely variations in colour and texture that is so famed in the far east. This is my take on an asian style tuna steak with a light rice noodle salad, I am afraid it is probably pan-asian rather than local to a specific country but still it is bang-tidy.

Tuna Marinade
Soy sauce - a good couple of glugs
Oil - 2-3 tablespoons of oil (use vegetable/rapeseed/sesame/anything but olive)
Knob of ginger - grated
Chilli - 1 birdseye
Lime - juice and zest of 1
Star anise (optional) - 1
Few drops of tabasco

Take all these ingredients and mix them together, cover the fish in the marinade, cover and place in the fridge for at least an hour.

Once the tuna has marinaded for enough time, heat a pan (to very hot), and sear the tuna (with all the juices) for about 90 seconds on each side.

Remove and leave to rest before carving. (Tip - for carving fish, try and use the best knife you have, and just let the knife do the work, don't saw the fish as it will tear apart very easily)

Noodle salad
Pre-cooked rice noodles
Beansprouts
Coriander
Smashed peanuts
Lime juice
Soy sauce
Some chopped ginger and chilli

As soon as you have taken the tuna off the heat, add a drop more oil to the pan and stir fry all these ingredients quickly together, if the pan is nice and hot this should only take a couple of seconds. Squeeze over some more lime add a drizzle of soy sauce and tuck-in.

Have included a couple of pictures of this, which i know is some hardcore food porn, so please excuse me for that. But i am trying to improve so thoughts are always appreciated.

Rhubarb Gin

This is an other guest post from one of the best mixologists in Wales, and what a recipe it is. As the weather is so awful why not sit down in front of the tennis with a refreshing rhubarb gin and tonic.

Give it a try and remember folks, always drink responsibly, or have someone responsible to look after you.

Rhubarb Gin
This is a merge of several recipes I have discovered whilst on a mission to kill brain cells in new and exciting ways. 

Cut up a shit loads of rhubarb into 1 inch lengths and score with a knife

Fry in a frying pan with a drop of water and some sugar, for couple of minutes, just to soften the rhubarb slightly. 

Add to a saucepan and add a bottle of gin put on a low heat until you can smell the alcohol burning off. Remove immediately, and cover with cling film and then again with foil. Replace the lid and leave for 3 days. 

Sieve and bottle.

Best served long with with tonic, ice and a slice.

Enjoy watching Andy Murray winning Wimbledon or Mo Farra winning gold for GB this summer. 

Thanks to Rich Cannon for this Liver melting recipe.

Gazpacho

This is one of my favourite summer soups, its very simple, requires no cooking, and is probably the most healthy recipe I will ever put on this blog.

I have managed to convert a couple of people to Gazpacho, and I think it is important to think of this not as a cold tomato soup but a completely different dish altogether. A little nugget of Spanish sun.

Ingredients

Everything needs to be roughly chopped so that it can go in a blender, I have done this with my little hand blender but it is a bit easier with a big one.

Peppers – 1 red/1 green

1 onion

Half a cucumber

Couple of cloves of garlic – remember it will be raw so be careful if you are out on the prowl later.

1 Chilli – seeds in or out

10 tomatoes

A good glug of Extra virgin olive oil

Lots of salt and pepper

Handful of basil

Some bread for croutons

Blend up all the ingredients together into a soup-like consistency. It wont be completely smooth due to the skins from the vegetables you can sieve this but to be honest I don’t really bother. Put in the frezzer/fridge to chill.

Make some croutons by frying some bread in oil with garlic and rosemary. You can serve this with some finely chopped cucumber and peppers for some additional texture.