Spicy Seared Tuna

(click to enlarge)	Spicy Seared Tuna Vietnam
(click to enlarge)	Serves: Effort: Sched: DoAhead:	4 app ** 45 min Prep		This is a very popular dish all over Vietnam, in restaurants and at street stalls. It is also made with other thick fleshed fish, but Tuna is considered best.

1
8
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1-1/2
1
2
2
3
2
1/4
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2

#
oz
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in
cl

T
T
T
c
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t

Tuna, fresh (1)
Cucumber (2)
-- Dressing
Ginger root
Garlic
Thai Chilis (3)
Sugar
Nuoc Cham (4)
Lime Juice
Water
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Oil

Prep (40 min)

Cut TUNA into steaks or sticks as appropriate. Pieces should be about 1-1/2 inches thick.
Make DRESSING. Slice and chop all solids very fine and smash to a pulp in a mortar. Mix with liquids and let stand for 15 minutes.
Cut CUCUMBER into thin strings. A Julienning vegetable peeler is perfect for this. Mix into the dressing and let stand another 15 minutes. Eat or discard the seed mass.

Run (5 min)

Heat Oil very hot and sear Tuna quickly on all sides.
Caution: Do not overcook. Cooking should be no deeper than shown in the photo or it will be impossible to slice - it'll just crumble. a little less deep would be fine.
Slice Tuna and arrange on a dish over a bed of Cucumber. Spoon some dressing over and serve immediately.

NOTES:

Tuna:
The tuna should be very fresh as it will still be partially raw when served. Sushi grade if available.
Cucumber:
Unwaxed Persian cucumbers were used in the photo. If what you have is the common green blimp you need to peel it.
Chilis:
Two Thai chilis makes a dressing that's just noticeably hot. Feel free use a bit more according to your own judgement. For details see our Thai Chilis page.
Nuoc Cham
This is a very popular dipping sauce in Vietnam. Here is our recipe for Nuoc Cham.
U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch, ar=as required tt=to taste

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