Tuna is a very flavorful, fatty fish. This mint sauce bright and herbal, but not too sweet, which is a wonderful way to highlight the fish’s best qualities. Tuna with Savory Mint Sauce.
Ingredients
- .75 cup fresh mint, chopped
- 3 tablespoon water
- 3 tablespoon sugar
- .75 cup malt vinegar
- 2 clove garlic, minced
- .75 teaspoon salt
- 4 tuna steaks, about 1 inch thick (about 2 pounds in all)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
Directions
Put ½ cup of the mint in a medium glass or stainless-steel bowl. In a small stainless-steel saucepan, bring the water to a simmer over moderate heat. Add the sugar and stir until completely dissolved.
Stir in the vinegar, garlic, and ¼ teaspoon of the salt. Continue to cook 8 or 10 more minutes, until the sauce reduces some and gets slightly syrupy. Pour the mixture over the mint in the bowl. Let sit 15 minutes.
Light the grill or heat the broiler. Coat the tuna with the oil. Season with the remaining ½‑teaspoon salt and the pepper. Cook the tuna for 4 minutes. Turn and cook until done to your taste, 3 to 4 minutes longer for medium rare.
Strain the mint sauce through a sieve into a sauce boat or serving bowl. Stir in the remaining mint. Pass the sauce with the fish.
Nicer if you caramelize the sugar first. Incidentally, where I am from we eat Habaneros like a fruit.…..
I need to pay a visit to my local Asian market to stock up on all things Vietnamese‑y, because I am suffering withdrawal since leaving SF and might have to whip up something with a bit of that far eastern spiciness in it soon…
I’m not in spicy mood, but when I am, I know where to come, because I have this feeling there will be several spicy dishes in a row because you tend to get on kicks which is fun to watch, and out will come the sriracha sauce, the wok.
I do get on kicks… but that is the end of spicy for a while. I have scratched that itch. GREG
… but then coconut noodles sound so good, too! I’m starting to build up my heat tolerance and so far, I’m up to approximately 1 teaspoon of sambal oelek or other chili pastes per recipe. Your 2 to 3 tablespoons will probably ignite my internal organs, resulting in a very rare case of Spontaneous Human Combustion.
What a wonderful sounding dish, look forward to trying. With your post on banh mi — you had me on a sandwich kick this week, now it looks like spicy shrimp is the order of the day.
so don’t resist this kick. It’s a good thing. GREG
… easy recipes like this too! I love not worrying about dinner because I know I’ll make something simple with pantry staples into a gorgeous dish like this! I see you’re on a delicious Vietnamese creative groove, keep them coming!
It’s so spicy. I know you don’t like that. Nice of you to gloss over that fact on my behalf! GREG
Yum, I love the spice and excellent with the balance of sweetness!
Spicy foods are my favorite!!! Combine that with some spectular vietnamese or thai food and I am in heaven. Thanks for the comment on my site, I missed reading blogs I loved also and yours is definately in the top 5! Life has been interesting around here!
Love how easy this sounds. My wok is in the same state as yours, I bet. Love your photo of the shrimp in your fry pan!
Actually I grew up eating the tails, and so did my kids…love em! You had me at spicy, since I have not had any shrimp in a while, and this sounds really good. Like that pan too. I have a feeling I would love your kitchen period. I do love my sippity sup!
Sometimes all it takes it a few ingredients to make a really good dish. In this case, soup. =) Ironically, I posted about shrimp to day too. =)