This is one of my absolute favorite appetizers and it is SO quick and easy to make! There are only five ingredients in this dish and you'll see how perfectly they all come together. Here is the final product
Ingredients:
1pc Sushi Quality Tuna (this one is actually from ALDI!!!)
1 Egg
1/4 cup Breadcrumbs
2-3 Scallions (chopped)
1-2 tbsp Sweet Soy Sauce
Splash of oil for cooking
Step 1
Gather all of your ingredients and tools. This dish does come together very quickly, so you'll want everything on hand when you start.
***The sweet soy sauce is important flavor to this dish and most people probably don't have this on hand, so you can improvise by heating some regular soy sauce on the stovetop with sugar (use the proportion of soy sauce to sugar that you like the best)
Step 2
Defrost (if frozen) and rinse the tuna, then pat dry with a paper towel
Note: For the longest time, I couldn't find tuna anywhere in the Charlotte area that didn't taste really 'fishy' when it was seared. One day while walking through Aldi, I saw this in the freezer section and decided to give it a try. I was skeptical because it was REALLY inexpensive, but also though, 'what the heck, I'm only out $6-$7 bucks if it doesn't work'. I've eaten this raw many times, and never has it tasted fishy, nor have we ever had any side effects from it. Also this is GREAT for one of my other favorite meals, Poke bowls!!! (I'll share my recipe for that some time too).
Steps 3 and 4
Beat the egg (this is just to get the breadcrumbs to stick and I have found that even a splash of milk will do the job, if you prefer).
Place the breadcrumbs on a plate
***You can really use any breadcrumbs you like, but here I used store bought seasoned panko bread crumbs. The nutritionist in me would say to make your own using sprouted grain bread, but hey, this is a treat and we aren't using a whole lot here.
Steps 5 & 6
Dip the tuna in your egg (or milk), then toss in the bread crumbs
***I like to push down on both sides a fair bit to get the bread crumbs to cover and stick well
Step 7
Heat the oil in the pan (just enough so there is a thin layer of oil in the pan)
It is very important to make sure the pan/oil is VERY hot before putting the tuna on. If it's not HOT, it will just soak up the oil and and won't get your tuna crispy
I prefer to use a cast iron skillet, or stainless steel pan, but if you don't have one of those, you can certainly use whatever else you have.
Also - I like to use an oil which has a higher smoke point, like avocado oil, as opposed to something like olive oil. Again, you can use whatever you have on hand though.
Step 8
Drop the tuna in the HOT pan and sear for about one minute
Flip the tuna over and cook the other side for about one more minute
***Depending on the heat, it may take slightly less time, or slightly more. The goal here is to get it CRISPY without burning
Step 9
Thinly slice your tuna steak using a SHARP knife.
If you'r knife isn't sharp enough, you'll likely end up 'squishing' the tuna and knocking off all of the crispy breading.
Step 10
Plate your tuna slices and sprinkle with sweet soy sauce and chopped scallions
ENJOY!!
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