fish

citrus-seared tuna with crispy noodles, herbs and chilli

servings
4

method

Tuna is a wonderfully rich, slightly fatty fish. Using grapefruit to sear it gives a really nice contrast of flavours. It's quick to prepare and it will definitely be a talking point when you have guests round for dinner. The noodles are a great part of this dish, but can be an optional extra.

Squeeze the grapefruit juice and pour into a sandwich bag with the fish sauce. Add the piece of tuna. Tie up the bag, squeezing out most of the air so the tuna is completely covered in the juice. Leave for 40 minutes, after which time the outside of the tuna will be pale and "cooked". Now carefully pour the grapefruit juice from the bag into a bowl, dry off the tuna and put to one side.

For the dressing, mix the sesame oil, olive oil and chillies into the grapefruit juice. Use as much chili as you like, and season to taste. Tear off a good handful of coriander and mint from the bunches and put to one side to use for garnish later. Finely chop the remaining herbs and really pat these around the tuna to encrust it. Wrap in cling film and place in the fridge until needed.

Boil the noodles for 1 minute until they are slightly flexible, drain and allow to steam dry and cool. Add a little olive oil to a hot non-stick pan, add your noodles and leave them until they are nice and crisp on one side. Now flip them over and do the same on the other side – it doesn't matter if some stick to the pan, just scrape them up and turn them over. Divide the crispy noodles between 4 plates. Slice your tuna up about 0.5cm thick – in Japan it's a sign of generosity to have nice thick slices of tuna, but I like them a little thinner as they are more delicate in the mouth.

Place the tuna on the noodles, sprinkle over the torn-up herbs that you put to one side earlier, sprinkle with the spring onions and then drizzle a couple of spoonfuls of the dressing over the tuna. Before your eyes you will see the cut sides of the slices of fish begin to change color and "cook". Serve straight away.

• from Jamie's Kitchen

ingredients

• 2 pink grapefruits
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 500g piece of sustainably sourced tuna
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 6 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for frying
• 2 or 3 fresh red chillies, very finely sliced
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 large bunch of fresh coriander
• 1 small bunch of fresh mint
• a couple of good handfuls of glass or cellophane noodles
• 4 spring onions, finely sliced at an angle

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tried this recipe or a similar one? share your tips...

1. by Jonny on Thu 12 Jan 2012 @ 11:49

Really impressed, the colors and flavors in this dish are excellent!<br /> I followed the advice below and gave the tuna a quick turn in the pan to sear the outside, and served with some pak choi on the side for variety.

2. by Don Kennedy on Thu 25 Aug 2011 @ 12:14

That is without a shadow of a doubt the worst thing I have had the misfortune of eating in my entire life. I normally love Jamie's recipes but this is disgusting!<br /> What annoys me even more is I spent $30 on ingredients that ended up in the trash!<br /> Jamie you owe me $30! This may be OK if you are a trained sushi chief but to say to people that this is an easy easy meal is a bare faced lie!

3. by rayni on Sat 16 Apr 2011 @ 02:34

40 minutes is not long enough to create an aptly citrus seared tuna, it is more like 2 hours.

4. by chris g. on Sun 17 Jan 2010 @ 11:01

I am an expat living in Vietnam, so there is plenty of fish sauce- it is a daily staple of the Vietnamese diet. As far as I know it is available in most Asian stores in the West- has a very unique flavor and I suspect is is very had to substitute, although the suggestion of anchovies and soy sauce sounds like it is somewhat close. We had a hard time with the noodles and it ended up oil soaked with a crispy outside with a soggy middle so that ended up in the garbage.Instead we made a last minute change and mixed a quick salad with the tuna on top, which tasted great. As per other posters, we seared the tuna for about 1 minute.

5. by Antony on Tue 05 Jan 2010 @ 14:59

My bottle of fish sauce (Blue Dragon brand) lists its ingredients as "anchovy extract, salt, sugar".

Having lived in USA, Australia, Switzerland, and UK I've only ever seen it called Fish Sauce (it's Nam Pla in Thailand). If you can't find it in a normal supermarket a Vietnamese, Thai, Chinese, or "Asian" food store would always have it.

I can't really think of a good all-round substitute for fish sauce. Maybe Oyster Sauce and a dash of Soy Sauce? It wouldn't be as tasty as Fish Sauce though. Perhaps mix some anchovy paste and salt in oil?

Hope that helps.

6. by Hilary on Mon 28 Sep 2009 @ 14:41

Could you PLEASE tell me what "fish sauce" is ?! (I'm going to have to shop for it in New England)
Mucho thanks ~

7. by chef du jour on Fri 12 Jun 2009 @ 18:13

Does this mean it's a tuna carpaccio? It's called "seared" but it really just gets cooked in the grapefruit juice, which is also like Ceviche. Anyone?? Have you tried it?

8. by Liam Rainier on Sat 14 Feb 2009 @ 10:16

whats fish sauce? urgent...

9. by Kirsty on Sat 14 Feb 2009 @ 09:26

I love seafood and fish, but can't see the attraction with tuna. However, this sounds very much like an uncooked carpaccio, which I adore. I will be trying this receipe to see if you can convert me to liking tuna. The crispiness of the noodles with the soft flesh of the tuna sounds like a great combination. I will be trying this in the not too distant future.

10. by Leah and Chloe on Mon 09 Feb 2009 @ 21:08

Great dish- delish! The grapefruit/tuna combination was amazing. We opted to lightly sear the tuna on one side on the pan after the noodles just to heat it but it also tasted great cold.

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