Recipe: seared sesame seed tuna with strawberry bruschetta

Seared sesame tuna and strawberry bruschetta

A simple summertime recipe, seared sesame tuna with strawberry bruschetta, is just what you need in this muggy weather. I used a Japanese seed mix called Furikake, full of black and white sesame seeds with fragments of nori seaweed and dried bonito flakes. This adds a delicious texture and flavour to tuna, but you can use just white or black sesame seeds if that’s what you’ve got in your pantry. Furikake is also an excellent umami booster on plain rice.

I briefly seared the tuna filets indoors on my griddle pan but you can also do it outside on a barbeque. If you prefer your tuna cooked through, just leave it a little longer on the grill. To be sure, your seared tuna must be spanking fresh if you are going to cook it rare.

I’m loving how strawberries and tomatoes are eating right now; this is their moment, perfectly seasonal. I never put tomatoes in the fridge, it will make their flesh taste mealy. I keep tomatoes in the fruit bowl. As for strawberries and berries in general, give them a quick rinse with a diluted vinegar and water mixture and they won’t go mouldy so quickly. You know that disappointment when you bought say, raspberries only yesterday and already there are a few greenish ones. Seriously, make yourself rinse them as soon as you are packing away your shopping and you’ll be astounded as to how long they last.

Seared sesame tuna with strawberry bruschetta

Serves 4

Equipment:

heavy frying pan or grill pan

Ingredients:

For the strawberry bruschetta:

8 slices of sourdough bread

50ml olive oil

16 strawberries, sliced thinly

Small fresh basil leaves

Sea salt

Black pepper

For the seared sesame tuna:

4 x 250g ahi tuna steaks (I used yellow tail)

50ml olive oil

50ml toasted sesame oil

Sea salt

Wasabi paste (optional)

200g of sesame seeds both black and white

Salad greens

The full recipe is in my July column for Winetrust100 along with some wine matches.

Recipe: seared sesame seed tuna with strawberry bruschetta