Some weeks ago, when we were anchored in the pretty bay of Porto Kaio, a couple came by from a neighbour boat and offered us a big piece of fresh-caught tuna. They said they just fished it in the morning and it was too much for them. And they disappeared so fast, leaving me happy, in shock, with more than 1 kg of fish and not being able to thank them properly for the present!! (thank you once again if you ever read this!!)
It was so nice of them, I enjoyed it so much!! Lloyd doesn't like tuna, and it was definitely too much for me! But I cooked and enjoyed it to the last bit.
We normally don't cook much meat or fish onboard, only when we set the barbecue. But it was the perfect excuse to make an exception to it...
I cooked it in 3 different ways.
The first night, as it was so fresh, I thought it was perfect almost raw, with a bit of sesame and soja sauce. The next evening I prepared the barbecue and enjoyed the juicier part just grilled. I cut whats was left in big dice and together with some vegetables and rice, they made 2 awesome lunches!
I loved that they are all easy to prepare, all basic ingredients (well, for me soja and sesame are basic!) and the taste is so different between the 3 of them!
There's not much science on any of them, but this is how I prepared it:
Fresh tuna with soja and sesame seeds
This is probably my favourite way to prepare the tuna when is so fresh. Just a bit flavoured and almost raw.
Ingredients:
Tuna filet
Soja sauce
Sesame seeds
How to prepare:
Marinate the fish in soja sauce. Some people let it soak for 20 minutes - As it was so fresh, I let it soak for only 5 minutes, to get more from the tuna's original taste.
Spread the sesame seeds in a plate and roll the fish over them, so they can get stack to it.
Prepare a pan with a bit of olive oil and wait until it's very hot. Add the fish and let it cook for less than 1 minute per side. We want it to be brown and crunchy, but still raw inside.
(You could cook it slowlier if you prefer it well cooked. But be careful as tuna cooks fast, and it would be overcooked easily)
Grilled tuna
Well, no much of an explanation is needed here!
The area around the stomach of the tuna (or any other fish) is thinner and has more fat, which makes it perfect for grilling.
As always with the tuna, just be careful and don't overcook it and there's nothing needed apart from a bit of salt.
I also fried a laminated garlic clove in 3 tablespoons of olive oil and poured it over the fish when serving it. It does well with a pinch of chilli too.
Sauteed tuna over vegetables and rice
We were sailing on a calm sea so I decided to enjoy some passage cooking and make something nice with the remaining tuna. It didn't take long, about half-hour only... but before finishing wind had gone up, we were moving a lot, and it ended being my rolliest galley cooking session so far. It was fun though, and delicious too!
- I boiled some basmati rice
- Meanwhile, I stir-fried some vegetables: onion and courgette, cooked until a bit soft but still crunchy. I added some diced fresh tomato, cooked for a couple of minutes, added 2 teaspoons of balsamic vinegar and another 3 of water.
- Finally, I cut the tuna in big bites, sauteed it briefly. I cooked them well this time, but being careful, not overcooking.
Served altogether, enjoyed on the cockpit while sailing at more than 20 knots of wind, healing a lot, smiling and thinking how fun boatlife is!
Comments