Searing tuna steaks gives them a fantastic flavour and adding tamarind makes it extra special. Serve with a melon salad and zingy dressing for a wonderfully vibrant meal.
Equipment and preparation: for this recipe you will need a vac-pac machine.
Ingredients
- For the salad
-
- ¼
watermelon, peeled and sliced - ½ cantaloupe
melon, peeled and sliced - 150g/5½oz edamame
beans, podded - 75g/2½oz
sugar-snap peas, thinly sliced - 75g/2½oz
mangetout, thinly sliced
- ¼
- For the tuna steak
-
- tuna steak (weighing approximately 500g/1lb 2oz), cut into 4 pieces
- 2 tbsp
tamarind paste - 1 tbsp
rapeseed oil
- For the dressing
-
- 1 red
chilli, finely chopped - 2
garlic cloves, crushed - 2cm/¾in piece root
ginger, peeled and roughly chopped - 2 tbsp
palm sugar (also known as jaggery) - 6 tbsp
soy sauce - 4 tbsp
fish sauce - 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh
mint leaves - 2 tbsp finely chopped
fresh coriander leaves - 2
limes, juice only
- 1 red
- To garnish
-
- ½
pomegranate, seeds removed
- ½
Preparation method
-
For the salad, place the sliced melons in a vac-pac bag and seal in a vac-pac machine. Leave in the fridge overnight.
-
For the tuna steak, brush the tuna with tamarind paste and leave to marinate for at least 1 hour.
-
Meanwhile, for the salad, heat a large frying pan and add the chilled melon, cook on each side for 1-2 minutes. Cut into 2-3cm/¾-1¼in pieces and place in a large bowl with the beans, sugar-snap peas, and mangetout. Set aside.
-
Heat a large griddle pan and lightly brush the tuna with the oil. Cook on the griddle for 6-8 minutes, depending on the size of the steaks and how you like your tuna cooked. Leave to rest, then thinly slice.
-
For the dressing, put all the ingredients in a pestle and mortar and mix until smooth.
-
To serve, toss the salad in the dressing. Put the salad on serving plates with the tuna alongside. Garnish with pomegranate seeds.
Required techniques
James Martin recipes from Saturday Kitchen
Overnight preparation time
10 to 30 mins cooking time
Serves 4
