How do you prepare your Tuna

Bod

Well-Known Member
With the amount of Albacore kicking around Bamfield these days I thought I would ask what everyone else does with their Tuna. I've had it raw, grilled, baked, smoked lox, canned, and am about to deep fry some tonight. Sending some to St.Jeans for lox and Indian candy, but looking for more ways to enjoy it.
Thanks
 
Apart from the various raw preparations I like broiled best of all especially with a bit of Thai Sweet Chili Sauce.
 
Smokin hot cast iron pan. Sear one minute on the three sides. Let it rest. Slice it thin. Serve on steamed rice with shaved nori seaweed and ponzu sauce. A little minced green onion too!
 
i like to eat them like a blue rare beef tenderloin steak. Just pre-season with salt and pepper and do them on the BBQ or smokin hot frying pan. I prefer to do this with the larger ones cutting the steaks across the loin about one inch thick. So simple, so good.
 
With the amount of Albacore kicking around Bamfield these days I thought I would ask what everyone else does with their Tuna. I've had it raw, grilled, baked, smoked lox, canned, and am about to deep fry some tonight. Sending some to St.Jeans for lox and Indian candy, but looking for more ways to enjoy it.
Thanks

Everything I have read about deep fried tuna is GOOD!. Please let us know how it goes. Haven't been brave enough to try it yet.

Raw is my favourite, especially the bellies.....

However my wife is not such a huge fan of anything raw. Her favourite is a seared for 1 min per side 1 inch steaks cut off the lion marinated first for 30 mins in a Japanese marinated then finished with a lemon/caper/garlic/ butter sauce

Japanese marinade
1/2 cup canola oil
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
3 tbl soy
3 tbl ginger
3 tbl sugar.

Marinate for no longer then 30mins turning once. Put in a hot pan with just a bit of oil, sear for 1min on each side and remove. Deglaze the pan with a bit of white wine, take the pan off the heat, toss in a chunk of butter, some garlic, some lemon juice and some capers. Pour on top of tuna chunks and have at er.
 
Bellies!!! That reminds me. I'm not a fan of the bellies so I have been trying some new things. I hot smoked a batch of tuna bellies and it was better than black cod!!!!!!!!!! Thats what I will be doing with those from now on.
 
Bellies!!! That reminds me. I'm not a fan of the bellies so I have been trying some new things. I hot smoked a batch of tuna bellies and it was better than black cod!!!!!!!!!! Thats what I will be doing with those from now on.

Go on.,..... what kind of brine? how long in the brine, how long in the smoker? Give up the goods!
 
Tuna is a different to brine. For the most part because of the high fat content it needs to be brined longer. WAY LONGER. I use a basic brine of 20 litres of water with 4 cups of rock salt and 4 cups of brown sugar. I usually quarter that brine by the way. Brine the bellies for around 6 hours in that. Then smoke it. I like to mix apple and alder wood for smoke. It is difficult for me to give precise instructions on smoking for I can only tell you to smoke it till its done. My smokers never get over 160 F and I smoke them till they have a tan from the smoke. Usually up to 8 hours but it depends on the weather. I did these with the skin off and I did notice that the belly wall membrane is tough like skin so it is a good idea to rack those with the inside of the belly wall down as if it were the skin on a salmon fillet.

Not thorough directions I know. The brine is the recipe, the smoke is the art and thats why no two people can smoke a fish the same that i have seen.
Smoking is a whole other discussion.
 
I like to sear my tuna loins up with a propane blow torch, just heat each side untill you get a light bown color, chill, slice thinly and enjoy!
 
I left a loin in a Ziploc that had soya, mirin, green onion, garlic, pepper, rice wine vinegar and some olive oil for about 3 days.....seared it on the grill on the side of a ski race course at Whistler and it was fantastic!

Have done a ton of recipes including Cajun spice with a fruit salsa on it consisting of mango, papaya, little tomatoes, dash of red wine vinegar, red onion a splash of oil, salt and pepper and it was great.

Also just brushed with oil, salt and pepper the other night....seared and topped with a tapenade made with capers, olive, sun-dried tomatoes and parsley and that was very good.
 
I like to barbeque it with Canadian Club barbeque sauce. 1.5 minutes a side on 1" thick loin steaks. It is cooked through but still very moist. Fast and easy. My wife and daughter won't do the raw thing.
 
Brush a half loin with wasabi, roll in seame seeds, sear for 2 minutes per side. Dip in ponzu or any other asian sauce
 
With the amount of Albacore kicking around Bamfield these days I thought I would ask what everyone else does with their Tuna. I've had it raw, grilled, baked, smoked lox, canned, and am about to deep fry some tonight. Sending some to St.Jeans for lox and Indian candy, but looking for more ways to enjoy it.
Thanks


How did the deep fry turn out?
 
It was good, and not much different than the Halibut and Yellow Eye we did at the same time. Deep frying is sort of all the same for most fish I think. When ever I want that deep fryer fix I throw something in the pot. Prawns, oysters, clams, salmon, and most anything else goes in the fryer once in a while.
Just refilled my cholesterol prescription!! Good to go for some more.
 
It was good, and not much different than the Halibut and Yellow Eye we did at the same time. Deep frying is sort of all the same for most fish I think. When ever I want that deep fryer fix I throw something in the pot. Prawns, oysters, clams, salmon, and most anything else goes in the fryer once in a while.
Just refilled my cholesterol prescription!! Good to go for some more.

Yes, I love deep fried seafood like yourself. Gotta keep it to special occasions though and not over do it. The best fish and chips I ever had was from the land locked boat stand in Astoria WA. We were picking up my boat and stopped in there and low and behold the daily special was albacore tuna fresh from the docks. The batter was crisp and perfect and the homemade tartar sauce was unreal as well. They know how to do it up down there on the coast near the great Columbia River:).
 
After brining in a 50/50 sugar/salt mix for 24 hours I soaked the loins in Apple juice for another 24 hr.

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Into the stovetop smoker

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Finally finished tastes good but not great the stovetop units are a bit of a joke for something as big as these loins.

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It does make an incredible tasting Tuna salad.


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Note the ragged looking Tuna loins-these aren't ones I cleaned-trimmed them up as best I could but mine ended up with someone else somehow.
 
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That looks delicious. Did we actually meet informally and talk a bit at the dock on a Thursday morning out front of Mills?
 
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