Sesame Seared Tuna

My parents are currently on vacation in beautiful Maui, Hawaii which means that the cooking has fallen solely on my shoulders. Granted I have had a pretty busy week getting ready to return to school and also studying for an exam I have to take soon. As such, I have been preparing meals throughout the week using products I purchased before my parents left, but I haven't had time to restock the fridge with more groceries. According to my brother, he believes we can fit the entire contents of our refrigerator onto one shelf. I can say for certain that we have not been starving, I am simply choosing to use ingredients which we already possess in our fridge and pantry and am not restocking them...therefore giving off the appearance that the food in our house is dwindling.

Last night I had an idea to make a chicken stir-fry with some vegetables and rice noodles for lunch today, and took what I believed to be chicken out of the freezer to thaw. The problem was that I wasn't 100% sure that the contents of the freezer bag were in fact chicken because, although it looked kind of pink in color, I also thought I saw a scale which would indicate fish. I decided to wait until morning to find out which protein I had actually thawed but was not too shocked when I realized it was, indeed, fish. Still, I was unsure what type of fish it was while only partially thawed and thought it might be salmon. I decided to prepare my panko crusted salmon and some tortellini to go alongside it. I got the panko mixture ready, sliced the onions and placed them in the pan, but as I went to retrieve the fish from the freezer bag I was surprised to find tuna, not salmon.

Since I have never cooked tuna before I was a little dumbstruck as to what to do with it. I quickly went to my favorite food website tastespotting.com and typed in "tuna" to see what types of dishes commonly use tuna and how to prepare it. Immediately there were many pictures of tuna salads and seared tuna. Tuna salads use tuna flakes, usually from a can, but seared tuna comes from tuna steaks, which is what I had downstairs in my kitchen. I read through a couple of different posts and realized that seared tuna is actually quite simple and easy to make. Not wanting to waste the panko mixture I had already prepared, I crusted half of the tuna steaks with it and the other half in the more traditional sesame seed coating.

I was a little nervous at the prospect of searing the tuna in a way that would not leave it too raw but at the same time would still have some pink in the middle, like the way they do it in restaurants. My brother avidly watched as I cooked the tuna and even gave me some plating suggestions for my "photo shoot". Once we sat down to eat it we both thought it was great and I had successfully achieved the restaurant experience. Next time I might go a step further and prepare a nice, green salad of arugula and spinach and put the seared tuna on top. However it was good on its own and even better when dipped in a little soy sauce.

Sesame Seared Tuna

• 1 large tuna steak
• 2 tbsp sesame seeds
• Olive oil
• Salt

1. Put the tuna steak on a cutting board and pat it dry with a paper towel. Cut it into equal sized logs. Depending on how big your steak is this could yield anywhere from 4-8 logs (1/2 lb to 1 lb steak). Each log should be about 2-3 fingers in width, but length doesn't matter.
2. In a wide, shallow bowl combine the sesame seeds with some salt and mix well for even distribution.
3. Place the tuna logs into the bowl and roll around in the sesame seeds to coat evenly.
4. In a large non-stick skillet, heat just enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan. 
5. Once hot, reduce the heat to medium-high and place the tuna into the pan. Depending on the thickness of the cut, and how rare you want the tuna to be, sear each side for 40 seconds to a minute. Don't go longer than two minutes per side otherwise the tuna will be too dry. 
6. Remove the logs from the pan and slice the log into pieces about 1 cm wide. Plate over a salad or enjoy with some wasabi, soy sauce, or teriyaki sauce for dipping.

Tip: It's easiest to use tongs to flip the pieces and ensure that all sides get an even sear.