Miso and Sesame Tuna Tartare

Jump straight to the Miso and Sesame Tuna Tartare recipe.

There are two things key in this recipe for me, no, three. My love for deep flavours and all things fermented; the arrival of summer, the sun and a desire for fast, fresh and light things to eat and my long running obsession with edible flowers (coupled with my growing them in my little kitchen garden). 

That is a lot for just one plate, maybe, but a plate like this makes me so happy. I went to the fishmongers this morning and gathered a few things, sashimi grade tuna being one, and the thing that I went for in the first place. You see the idea of this recipe has been floating around my head for at least a week, and when I woke up this morning I knew I had to make it. 

Tuna Tartare, A Lesson in Speed and Simplicity

My local fishmonger had pretty pink tuna, sashimi grade. I bought just 300g for about £11, an indulgence at £38.50 a kg, but a treat nonetheless and this amount would serve two as a starter. When shopping I always stop and think about the cost of things (I spend too much time food shopping, but I really enjoy it). 

Sometimes at this time of year, I will pay more than you might consider for Italian imported tomatoes, but they are a slice of sweet sunshine and happiness and so much better than what we get here before the season starts properly. They are worth every penny. Equally this tuna, I won’t buy it very often, but when I do, I will really enjoy it, rare or raw as it is best.

I brought my tuna home and made a dressing focussed around some gorgeous white miso that I had in the fridge. Sesame oil too, black vinegar, soy sauce, fish sauce, a small pop of gojuchang and honey. Toasted sesame seeds and very finely sliced spring onions mixed through the diced tuna, and no salt required as the dressing has just the right amount of salt with the soy sauce and miso. 

Edible Flowers From the Garden

Flowers, all the flowers. When I was a child and I first discovered that some flowers were edible, an obsession was kickstarted. Not all have flavour, and some are maybe too bitter to use. I have a selection of joyful and pretty edible flowers growing in my little garden, today I used purple viola, yellow kale flowers and purple spiky chive flowers. I say spiky because they pop gently of a chives aspiring to be onion. 

This is a joy of a recipe and it is so easy too. All ingredients are easily available in Asian supermarkets and ones that I use all the time. If you don’t already know gojuchang (fermented Korean chilli paste) and Chinese black vinegar, do get some and play. They are terrific ingredients. The others I am sure you know already. 

Jump straight to the Miso and Sesame Tuna Tartare recipe.

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