Tuna for Breakfast. No Kidding.

11.5.06
Tuna, Soba and Kale for Breakfast?
YES!

RECIPE
Tuna:
approx. 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, thinly sliced in large pieces
1-2 tablespoons cooking oil (sesame-not toasted)
1 tuna steak
½ cup white wine
salt and pepper
wasabi paste (optional)
Pat steak dry, salt and pepper each side.
Cook ginger slices in oil on medium high for 1-2 minutes. Do not let burn.
Turn up heat and sear tuna on both sides leaving insides very pink.
Remove fish, set aside.
Add wine to pan, reduce to thick sauce
Cut fish into 1/3” strips
Pour sauce over fish.
Garnish with wasabi paste and parsley if desired

Soba Noodles:
Follow cooking instructions on packaging
Store in cold water before serving

Kale
1 bunch kale
1 ½ tablespoons rice vinegar
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
2-3 tablespoons sesame seeds

Remove stems from kale and chop into 1-2” pieces
Steam in a basket for about 3 minutes
Remove from heat, run cold water over kale
Remove kale from water, squeeze out water (use salad spinner if available)
Dress with vinegar, oil and sesame seeds

Mung Bean Sprouts:
Purchase and Enjoy



When you face a locally, fresh caught, bright pink piece of tuna available at a reasonable price, you really have no choice. I certainly had no choice in the matter yesterday when I insisted on purchasing enough sea feed to feed a family of five. But, like the true gastronomic adventurers we are, Mike and I finished off the catch by ten a.m. the following day. How did we do it? After our scallop feast last night, we enthusiastically tucked into some seared tuna for breakfast! I know there are probably a million Americans who had smoked salmon for breakfast or brunch today, so we can’t be the only ones finding morning satisfaction in a brightly colored fatty fish.
I cooked up some 100% buckwheat soba noodles and let them wait, soaking in cold water. I could have cooked buckwheat as the whole grain, which would have been a slightly healthier choice, but for some reason I went straight for the noodles. Next time I’ll try the whole grain. I also steamed up some kale that was begging to be rescued from the fridge before its leaves were no longer turgid. Once steamed, I ran cold water over the kale, squeezed out the water, and added a sprinkle of brown rice vinegar and some toasted sesame oil. Adding a tablespoon or two of sesame seeds completed the kale side dish. I also retrieved the remains of a bag of mung bean sprouts from the fridge and placed them on the table. To cook the tuna, which was so lovely, I didn’t really want to cook it at all, so I went for an ultra quick pan sear on each side. I sliced some fresh ginger very thinly and cooked the ginger on medium high for about a minute in a tablespoon or two of sesame oil. Any vegetable oil could be use as long as it is not strong in flavor. My mistake with this meal, although not a terrible one, occurred at this juncture. I should have turned the heat on high before adding the tuna so that the steak took on a nice brown color and slightly crisp texture on the very outside while remaining perfectly pink on the inside. I managed to preserve the beautiful interior color and did not in any way overcook the fish, but I didn’t have the pan hot enough so the outside of the fish had a pale color instead of the desired crispy brown. No matter, I simply removed the fish, added some of the white wine I had used for cooking last night to the pan and reduced. I sliced the fish into strips, laid them out on the plate and then covered them with the sauce and ginger slivers. I mixed up some wasabi paste and placed it on the plate as well. Just because I’m feeling especially jazzed up about cooking I added a sprig of parsley for garnish. As goofy as it might seem to garnish a plate, especially when you’re just going to eat the food a minute later and it’s only you or you and whoever you usually eat with, adding a garnish or presenting food in an appealing manner can make a big difference to the enjoyment of a meal. How pleasing the plate looks will definitely affect my mood when eating. We served everything in bowls at the table and made up our own plates. I’m thinking of having fish for breakfast every Sunday! Aside from needing to sear the tuna at a higher heat, the other suggestion Mike had was to make the sauce for the tuna with wasabi instead of serving it on the side. I think I’ll try that next time. I would also like to mention that this kind of meal would also be good with fresh salmon or shrimp. Hooray for fresh fish!