Sesame Seared Tuna Salad

Sesame-Seared Tuna Salad

Growing up, tuna salad meant canned tuna, mayonnaise, sweet relish, and a hard-boiled egg. In order to try to ‘clean up’ this dish to make it lighter, I wanted to sear the tuna, and then add in salad-like ingredients.   In order to serve this (or any salad) to a large group, use endive leaves as the vessel to serve it in.

(note: this may look like a lot of ingredients, but it is very easy to make.)

Ingredients for Tuna:	Ingredients for Salad:	Ingredients for Spicy Mayo:
1/4 cup soy sauce 1/8 cup rice wine vinegar 1 tablespoon fish sauce. 2 scallions, finely chopped 1 inch ginger, peeled and grated 2 cloves garlic, minced 1/4 cup white sesame seeds 1/4 cup black sesame seeds 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil 2 tuna steaks (about 1 pound)	Seared Tuna 1/2 avocado, chopped 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped 1/2 cup sprouts 1/2 mango, chopped 1 tablespoons lime juice 3 tablespoon sesame oil 3 teaspoon soy sauce 1 inch ginger, peeled and grated 1 endive, cleaned, and leaves separated	½ cup light mayonnaise 2 tablespoons Sriracha hot sauce 1 teaspoon lime juice

Directions:

To marinate tuna – combine soy, rice vinegar, fish sauce, scallions, garlic, and ginger. Add the tuna, flipping to coat.  Cover and allow to sit in the fridge for up to 2 hours, flipping periodically.

To sear the tuna – Heat a large nonstick pan over high heat until hot. Combine sesame seeds in a bowl.  Season with salt and pepper.  Coat hot pan with sesame oil (until almost smoking - note: turn on your fan!).  Lightly press marinated tuna into sesame mixture. 

Reduce pan heat to medium and place tuna in pan. Sear until brown – about 2 minutes. Flip and cook another two minutes. (Depending on the grade and thickness of your tuna you cooked will allow you to determine how long you will cook it.)  Allow to rest and cool. Chop into bite-sized pieces.

In a small bowl, whisk lime juice, soy sauce, and sesame oil.

After chopping vegetables, fruits, and meat, combine with sauce.  Spoon into endive leaves to serve.

Be careful with your avocado. Make sure it's still firm,
or fold into the mixture at the very last step. 

In another small bowl, mix mayonnaise, Sriracha, and lime juice to desired heat level. Dot or spread on top of tuna mixture.
(note: to my friends that added plenty of the spicy mayo, they loved it!)

Original Recipes: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Sesame-Seared-Tuna-with-Vegetable-Slaw-232445