Seared tuna salad with sesame and shiitake mushrooms, Asian leaves and nam jim dressing
Ingredients
Tuna
- 4 x 150g tuna loins
- 50ml dark soya sauce
- 75ml sweet chilli sauce + extra, to serve
- 15ml (1 tbsp) light sesame oil
- 15ml (1 tbsp) fresh ginger, finely chopped
- 125ml (½ cup) white and black sesame seeds
Nam jim dressing
- 5 red and green chillies, roughly chopped
- 1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
- 1 small knob ginger, roughly chopped
- 5 stalks coriander, root and stem
- 100g palm sugar
- 45ml (3 tbsp) fish sauce
- juice of 2 – 3 limes
Salad
- 8 spring onions, sliced thinly at an angle
- handful fresh coriander leaves + extra, to serve
- handful fresh mint leaves + extra, to serve
- 12 purple basil leaves
- handful mung bean sprouts
- 4 handfuls mixed Asian leaves (mizuna, baby tatsoi and Chinese cabbage)
- 250g shiitake mushrooms
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
Marinate the tuna portions in the soya sauce, sweet chilli sauce, sesame oil and ginger. Coat the tuna in the mixed sesame seeds and set aside.
For the dressing, combine the chillies, garlic, ginger and coriander in a pestle and mortar or blender until you have a rough paste. (Alternatively, chop as finely as possible.) Add the palm sugar in small amounts until dissolved. Add the fish sauce and lime juice to taste.
Toss the salad ingredients with the dressing and plate in 4 large bowls.
Sauté the shiitake mushrooms gently and season with salt and pepper.
Scatter the mushrooms over the salad leaves.
Heat a non-stick pan to smoking hot and add a drop of oil. Sear the tuna lightly on each side. Remove from the pan and slice at an angle.
Place the tuna on top of the leaves and garnish with more coriander and mint leaves and a few drops of sweet chilli sauce.
