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.