Seared Tuna with Pineapple Mango Salsa

I’ve been dreaming about this dish for a while. Mmmm fresh fish with the perfect veggie and fruit salsa… So delicious. The soy in the salsa and sesame seeds on the tuna add a nice nutty flavor. Tuna is definitely one of the more expensive ingredients I’ve worked with so far but it’s well worth every bite…

You’ll need:
1/2 lb tuna per person
Equal parts: pineapple, mango, red onion and red bell pepper
1 jalapeño
Cilantro
Avocado
Sesame seeds
Sesame seed or another high heat oil
Kosher salt
Fresh black pepper
Soy sauce
Fresh baby greens

First things first, let’s get to chopping. Cut off the head of the pineapple.

Whew!

Slice the skin off all the sides.

Purdy little naked pineapple.

The girls came over early to get in on the action so I put them to work chopping the red bell pepper, jalapeño, red onion and finishing up the pineapple. The key here is to try and dice up the produce all about the same size and shape. That way your salsa will look more uniform. Must say the ladies were great at this! Thanks gals!

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Slicing and dicing a mango can be tricky. First, peel the skin off with a vegetable peeler.

Make vertical slits in the fruit. Careful it’s a slippery little guy!

Then make horizontal slits. See those little uniform cubes? That’s what we are looking for.

Then take your knife right down the side of the mango and… There you have it! Perfect little mango cubes! Repeat this on each side of the fruit.

Oh it’s so pretty and the smell… Oh your mouth will be watering!

We included the jalapeño seeds for a little extra heat, up to you!

Add a handful of chopped cilantro.

Add about a tablespoon or so of soy sauce to the salsa and mix. Go easy on the soy at first, you can always add more later and a little bit goes a long way on these veggies and fruits.

Mix that up and set aside.

I went straight for the good stuff! I went to Whole Foods and picked up 2lbs of fresh tuna. Paid a pretty penny for these but hey, sometimes ya gotta splurge, right?

Oh hello lover!

We all took a little slice of it raw because it looked so appetizing.

Coat with a little sesame seed oil.

Add a little kosher salt to each side…

And fresh black pepper on either side as well.

Sesame seeds. I used only white but black and white are commonly used.

We debated on whether to coat the whole steak with sesame seeds or just the edges… Can go either way. We chose to only do the edges.

Coating the edges with sesame seeds. They stick easily to the sides.

I have I admit I was so nervous to sear the tuna! I didn’t want to mess it up. After a little pep talk, it was remarkably easy!!

Coat your pan with sesame seed oil. Use a cast iron skillet it you have one.

Make sure the skillet gets nice and hot before placing the tuna in.

Oh so beautiful! Only need about 30 seconds to one minute max on each side.

Flippy! Flippy!

Cue drooling now.

Thinly slice the tuna against the grain.

Plate with some greens.

Add a few slices of avocado. Thanks Lomax for making these slices so pretty!

Now top all of this with that gorgeous salsa!

Mmmmm

So fresh! The perfect dinner!

Sooo craving this right now!!

Enjoy y’all!