I am very lucky to have a husband who catches fish for me.  He is very good at cleaning and fileting the fish.  Once he preps the fish, I cook some right away and the rest I freeze in food saver bags.  Whenever the freezer starts looking empty, he goes fishing again.  On his last fishing trip, he had his first ever catch of Black Fin Tuna.

He cleaned the fish and carved out four loins.  I used two loins for this recipe and froze the other two.  In retrospect, I should have made Poke from the two I froze.  This fish was so good, that I shouldn’t have frozen it.  Next time I will make Poke and post it.

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INGREDIENTS:  serves four

• four, 6oz to 8oz pieces, of tuna (if you don’t have Black Fin Tuna, then you can substitute Ahi Tuna which is more readily available.)
• 2 tablespoons of peanut oil to coat the pan and 1 tablespoon to coat the fish
• 1/2 teaspoon of toasted sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons of white sesame seeds
• 2 tablespoons of black sesame seeds
• lime to squeeze on top
• I made an Asian Spice Mix by combining the following:
  • 1 tablespoon granulated garlic
  • 1 tablespoon granulated onion
  • 1 teaspoon crushed Szechuan peppercorns
  • 1 teaspoon crushed white peppercorns
  • 1/2 teaspoon pink Himalayan salt

PREPPING THE TUNA:

• Coat the tuna with 1 tablespoon of peanut oil
• Sprinkle all sides with an even coating of the Asian Spice Mix
• Combine the black and white sesame seeds
• Roll the oiled and spiced fish pieces in the sesame seeds to coat evenly

COOKING THE FISH:

• Coat a large nonstick skillet with 2 tablespoons of peanut oil and 1/2 a teaspoon of toasted sesame oil
• Turn the flame to medium-high and get the oil hot.  Not smoking hot, just hot.
• Add the fish and toast the sesame seeds 30 seconds on the large sides and 15 seconds each on the thinner sides.  The seeds will toast and the fish will remain rare in the center.

Squeeze some lime on top just before serving.  The lime brightens up the flavor.

This can be served with a veggie, a grain or a salad.  I have served it here on a bed of Asian Brown Rice Pilaf and a side of Green Beans and Shiitake Mushrooms.

I will post the Asian Brown Rice Pilaf in the future.  For now please go to my Buckwheat Pilaf recipe.  Use Brown rice instead of buckwheat.  The cooking time will be longer, about 45 minutes on low heat.  Use peanut oil instead of grapeseed oil.  Use yellow mustard seeds instead of the black ones.  Leave out the cumin seeds and peas.  Instead of black pepper use white pepper.  This changes the Indian flavor profile to an Asian flavor profile.

ENJOY AND PLEASE LEAVE YOUR THOUGHTS IN THE COMMENT SECTION.  I love to hear your feedback.