The Rumbling Kitchen: Sesame Crusted Tuna with Spicy Miso Potatoes

The Rumbling Kitchen: Sesame Crusted Tuna with Spicy Miso Potatoes: The rich and meaty flavour of fresh tuna is best served either raw or just cooked. This Japanese inspired recipe uses a great combination of...

Sesame Crusted Tuna with Spicy Miso Potatoes

The rich and meaty flavour of fresh tuna is best served either raw or just cooked. This Japanese inspired recipe uses a great combination of umami flavours such as soy sauce and miso paste. The contrasting textures of the sesame crust and tender fresh tuna work really well together. Miso is a fermented soy bean and seaweed sauce and it's normally used to flavour soup in Japanese cooking.

Ingredients:

Serves 2

For the tuna

2 tuna steaks, weighing 150g each

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1 tsp miso paste

1 tbs soy sauce, preferably Kikkoman 

1 tsp lime juice

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1 tbs plain flour

4 tbs white and black sesame seeds 

Vegetable oil for deep frying

For the marinade, in a bowl combine the garlic, miso paste, soy sauce, lime juice and ground black pepper. Coat each tuna steak with plain flour then toss them in the bowl with the marinade until well coated. Put the sesame seeds in a bowl, roll the tuna steaks to coat and keep in the fridge for 15 minutes.

For the spicy miso potatoes

200g new potatoes, boiled and halved

1 clove garlic, chopped

1/2 red chilli, chopped

1 tsp chopped fresh ginger

1 tsp miso paste

1 tbs soy sauce

1/2 tsp sesame oil

2 spring onions, sliced

Saute the garlic, chilli and ginger in a little bit of vegetable oil until fragrant and then add the soy sauce, miso paste, sesame oil and a splash of water.Throw in the potatoes and stir for a few minutes then remove from the heat. Sprinkle the spring onions into the potatoes and keep warm. Meanwhile heat enough oil in a pan for deep-frying. When it's hot deep fry the tuna steaks for 1 minute. Drain on kitchen paper, cut the tuna steaks in half and serve with the spicy miso potatoes and buttered green beans.

The Rumbling Kitchen: Pepes Ikan

The Rumbling Kitchen: Pepes Ikan: Pepes Ikan is a very popular fish dish in Bali and you can get it in almost every food stall (warung) there. The fish is marinated in a mixt...

Spicy Tofu Fritters

This simple recipe is really good for a mid-afternoon snack or if you combine it with a vegetable stir-fry and steamed rice would be a full meal itself. Tofu is widely available at major supermarkets and Asian supermarkets. This recipe works better using the firm tofu types, so avoid using the silken ones.

For the paste

1 shallot
1 clove garlic
1/2 red chilli or less
a handful coriander
1 tsp chopped lemongrass
1 tsp chopped ginger
1 tsp lime juice

Process all ingredients above in a blender or pestle and mortar until fairly smooth and set aside.

200 g firm tofu
1 tsp soy sauce
2 tbs plain flour
Breadcrumbs

Mash the tofu using your hands or potato masher, add the flour, soy sauce and the paste. Mix the tofu mixture thoroughly, season with salt and pepper, shape into medium size patties and roll in breadcrumbs until well covered. Keep the patties in the fridge for 30 minutes or overnight to firm up and shallow fry in hot oil when needed. Serve the fritters with some chilli jam ( the recipe is available from my previous post ).

Pepes Ikan

Pepes Ikan is a very popular fish dish in Bali and you can get it in almost every food stall (warung) there. The fish is marinated in a mixture of spices, wrapped in banana leaves and grilled over hot charcoal. The marinade - an aromatic blend of garlic, shallots, chillies, lemongrass, aromatics and herbs- gives the fish a fresh and fragrant taste and the banana leaf will lock all the moisture and flavour during the cooking process. This dish will be great at a barbeque party served with hot steamed rice. However, if you can't find any banana leaf use foil instead.

Ingredients:

2 medium size whole mackerels, filleted
1 medium size tomato, thinly sliced

For the marinade:

2 tbs chopped fresh galangal or 1 tbs ground galangal
1 tbs chopped fresh ginger
1 tbs chopped fresh turmeric or 1 tsp ground turmeric
1 red chilli, deseeded and chopped
1 shallot
2 cloves garlic
1 stalk lemongrass, chopped
1 kaffir lime leaf (fresh or dried), sliced
a pinch ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground clove
1/2 tsp shrimp paste
1 tbs vegetable oil

Process all the ingredients for the marinade in a blender or pestle and mortar until fairly smooth and set aside. Cut the fillet of fish into bite size chunks and tip into a bowl, mix with 2 tbs of the paste, sliced tomato, season with salt and pepper and mix properly until each chunk is well coated with the marinade. If using banana leaf soak it first in hot water for 2-3 minutes to make it easier to handle. Spoon the marinated fish into the centre square of banana leaf or foil and spread evenly. Roll into a log shape and secure each end of the parcel (use tooth picks if using banana leaf). Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 C for 15-20 minutes and serve with hot   steamed rice.