Nori Cured Ahi Tuna On Bamboo Spoon Food

SPICY TUNA ROLLS

Steps:

• Chop the scallions, reserving some of the greens for garnish.
• Slice the tuna into thin strips and then turn the strips 90 degrees and chop it up. If you want your spicy tuna chunky, you can stop here, or you can continue to chop the tuna up with your knife until the pieces are smaller. I usually add the scallion stems in here and chop them up together with the tuna.
• Transfer the chopped tuna to a bowl, and add the sriracha, soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, and tobiko, and stir everything together until mixed. Cover and keep the mixture refrigerated until you're ready to use it.
• Make some Tezu by adding a few tablespoons of rice vinegar to a small bowl of water.
• For the Gunkan, you want to cut the nori according to the diagram in the headnotes above.
• Wet your hands with the tezu and grab about 2 tablespoons of rice. Gently press it into a rectangle with your fingers, but don't smash the individual grains of rice.
• Wrap each rectangle of rice with the strips of nori you cut for the gunkan.
• Press the center of the rice to make the rice fill out the nori wrapper.
• Spoon some spicy tuna into each cup of nori. Garnish with scallion greens.
• For Hosomaki, the full sheets of nori should be cut in half according to the diagram above.
• Place the nori at the bottom edge of a sushi mat with the shiny side down.
• Wet your hands in the Tezu and grab a small handful of rice. Place the rice in a line along the nori's top edge working from one side to the other. Be sure to leave a thin margin of nori at the top.
• Wet your hands again if needed and spread the rice to the bottom edge of the nori sheet using a picking and pressing motion. Don't smash or smear the rice.
• Spread a thin line of spicy tuna in the lower half of the rice from one side to the other.
• To roll the spicy tuna hosomaki, use the mat to flip the bottom edge up and over the filling and make sure this edge meets the rice's top edge.
• Pull the edge of the mat away from the nori and push the back of the mat forward, so the seam rolls to the bottom.
• Use your fingers to press 3 sides of the roll against the cutting board to give the roll its shape.
• See the headnotes or watch the video for instruction on cutting a roll.
• For Uramaki, the size of the nori and process is similar, but you need to use a sushi mat that is lined with plastic wrap, or the rice will stick to the mat.
• Place a sheet of nori at the bottom edge of the mat and spread a handful of rice along the nori's top edge. There is no need to leave a border for uramaki, so you will need to use a little more rice than for hosomaki.
• Spread the rice down to the nori's bottom edge in a thin uniform layer, being careful not to smash the rice.
• Sprinkle some black sesame seeds onto the rice.
• Flip the rice over so the nori sheet is facing up, and lay a cucumber strip in the bottom half of the nori.
• Spread a line of spicy tuna from one side to the other.
• Flip the bottom edge of the mat up and over the filling until the rice makes contact with the nori on the other side.
• Pull the edge of the mat away from the rice and press the back of the mat to roll the seam to the bottom.
• Press the top, sides, and bottom of the roll using the mat to give the roll its shape, but do not squeeze it too hard.
• Check the headnotes for instructions on cutting the spicy tuna roll.

INSIDE-OUT SPICY TUNA AND AVOCADO SUSHI

Steps:

• Rinse rice in a strainer until water runs clear.
• Combine rice and water in a saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook until rice is tender and water is absorbed, about 20 minutes.
• Combine rice vinegar, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan over low heat; stir until sugar is dissolved, 1 to 2 minutes. Pour over rice; stir until rice cools and looks dry.
• Mix tuna, mayonnaise, chile oil, sesame oil, sriracha sauce, and green onion in a bowl with a fork, mashing to break up some of the chunks. Leave a few chunks intact for texture.
• Cover a bamboo sushi rolling mat with plastic wrap. Lay 1 nori sheet, shiny-side down, on the mat. Spread a thin layer of rice over the nori. Layer avocado slices across the rice. Flip nori sheet so avocado is against the mat. Spread a generous layer of tuna mixture 3/4 of the way down the back of the nori; top with cucumber matchsticks.
• Roll up sushi using the rolling mat, tucking in ends with the plastic wrap. Remove plastic wrap and place sushi roll on a plate. Repeat with remaining nori, rice, avocado, tuna mixture, and cucumber.

NORI-CURED AHI TUNA ON BAMBOO SPOON

Steps:

• In a small bowl combine salt, sugar, tobarashi, and pulverized nori. Stir in tuna to coat, cover and refrigerate about 2 hours to lightly cure. Divide into 8 even portions and place on flat bamboo spoons. Drizzle with ginger soy syrup.
• In a pan lightly coated with oil, combine garlic, ginger, and scallions over medium heat, season with salt and pepper, and let sweat. Deglaze pan with soy sauce, honey and lime juice. Let reduce by 30 percent to 40 percent until the mixture becomes a syrup, about 10 to 15 minutes. Let cool and transfer to a bottle. Store in the refrigerator.

MISO NOODLES WITH SEARED AHI TUNA

Steps:

• For the noodles and dressing: Begin by making the dressing. In a large bowl, combine the miso, soy sauce, 1/4 cup hot water, mirin, canola oil, rice vinegar and sesame oil. Whisk together well and set aside.
• In a large pot of salted boiling water, blanch the sugar snap peas until bright green and just tender, 10 to 15 seconds. Set aside. Add the soba noodles to the hot water and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Then strain and rinse under cold running water (this will stop the cooking process and gives the soba noodles their distinctive springy texture). Toss the noodles in the dressing and fold in the sugar snap peas and julienned carrot. Set aside until ready to serve.
• For the seared ahi tuna: In a large mixing bowl, make a quick marinade of the canola oil, sweet soy sauce, yuzu, sesame oil and ginger. Whisk together to combine. Carefully cut the tuna into 1 1/2-inch cubes and place in the marinade and toss to coat well (it will be a very light coating/marinade as the tuna shouldn't be too wet when searing).
• Thread 4 pieces of tuna per bamboo skewer (4 cubes per skewer, 8 skewers total). Mix the sesame seeds together and spread out on a flat platter. Take each skewer and press the tuna into the sesame seed mixture so it is well coated on all 4 sides.
• Heat a flat grill plate to high heat. Brush lightly with some oil to clean the grates and create a nonstick surface. Grill the tuna skewers just a few seconds on each of the 4 sides so the sesame seeds are toasted and crunchy and the tuna is rare in the middle, 30 to 35 seconds.
• Serve the tuna skewers on a bed of the dressed soba noodles and garnish with some sliced scallions.

ROASTED CORN CHOWDER WITH LIME CURED SHRIMP

Steps:

• Squeeze lime juice over shrimp placed in a bowl. Add lime skin to bowl, stir to coat, cover and refrigerate for up to 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. On a baking sheet, coat corn kernels with oil and roast for about 5 to 10 minutes.
• Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan over low heat, and cook bacon until crisp. Add onions and celery and cook for 5 minutes without browning. Add green bell pepper, red bell pepper, garlic and roasted corn and cook for another 5 minutes. Stir in flour to thicken and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, keeping heat low.
• Add cream, chicken stock and potatoes and let cook until potatoes are soft, about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent anything from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
• Remove shrimp from marinade and discard liquid. When potatoes are soft, stir in shrimp, lime juice, fresh chopped parsley, and cayenne pepper and cook until shrimp are pink and just cooked through. Spoon into soup bowls and top with scallions. Serve with oyster crackers.

TUNA QUESADILLA

Steps:

• Mix tuna with salsa and scallions. Fold in Cheddar. Divide mixture into 1/3's and spread each portion over 1/2 of a tortilla and fold into a half circle. Brown each of the 3 quesadillas on both sides in a hot pan to melt cheese. Cool a bit, cut into wedges and serve.

POKE (AHI TUNA)

Steps:

• Cut the raw tuna in tiny cubes. Season, to taste, with alaea. Chop the ogo and add to the tuna along with garlic, scallions, and crushed red pepper. Garnish with inamona or cashews. Toss and serve cold on demitasse spoons or on crackers.

TUNA CEVICHE CONE

Steps:

• Dice the tuna, against grain, into 1/4-inch cubes. In a bowl combine the lemon juice, lime juice and sugar. Stir in the vinegar and whisk until incorporated. Add the diced tuna, the ginger, red onion, green onion and herbs. Allow the tuna to marinate* for up to 1 hour.
• Drain the excess liquid from the tuna, scoop into cones and serve.
• *The marinating of the tuna with the fresh juices and sugar will be the cooking or curing process for the tuna

SPICY TUNA PAN SUSHI (NO ROLLING!)

Steps:

• To make the spicy mayo, mix the mayo, Sriracha sauce, lemon juice and soy sauce. Cover and stir in the fridge until you are ready to use.
• To make the sushi, cook the rice according to package directions. While it is still hot, stir in the rice vinegar, sugar and salt (if using).
• Spray a 9x13 pan VERY WELL with non-stick cooking spray or line it with wax paper (I used cooking spray and it worked well). Try to use a pan that has straight edges on the bottom.
• When the rice is cool enough to handle, measure out 2 1/2 cups and press it evenly in the bottom of the pan.
• Layer 2 sheets of nori over the rice and press to make it stick. Cut the nori so it fits, if necessary.
• Open the tuna and drain.
• Place tuna in a medium bowl and add the spicy mayo until the tuna is creamy. I used all of it in mine but adjust the amount to your liking.
• Spread the tuna/mayo mixture on the nori.
• For the next layer, alternate between scallion and carrot, lying them in rows across the sushi, until the tuna is covered.
• Top the crab meat with 2 more nori sheets and press lightly to compact everything.
• Take the remaining 2 1/2 cups of sticky rice and carefully spread it out over the nori.
• Cover with wax paper and press everything firmly into the pan. I actually used a brick to make sure the edges were pressed, too. A pancake turner would work as long as you really press with all your might.
• Keeping the wax paper over the top of the sushi, place a cutting board on top of the pan.
• Quickly but carefully flip the pan onto the cutting board. If the sushi sticks, tap lightly with a wooden spoon until it releases. If you lined the pan with wax paper, remove the paper now.
• Sprinkle rice with sesame seeds, to taste.
• Cut the sushi into squares with a very sharp knife. If it is still sticking, try wetting the knife in between cuts.
• Serve with soy sauce, pickled ginger and wasabi.