If preparing raw-fish in your own kitchen isn’t enough to freak you out, I don’t know what is!
I sink my teeth into fresh tuna any chance that I get whether it’s in the form of a sushi roll, sashimi, a poke bowl, or ahi tartare, I can’t get enough of this sh*t! I’m not gonna lie though, the thought of preparing it in my own kitchen made me very nervous at first!
Now I am NOT one to back away from a challenge, especially if it involves food! So I asked some questions (ok a LOT of questions) and got some friendly help at Whole Foods.
Turns out Whole Foods sells ahi tuna that is meant to be eaten raw! Who knew that my fresh tuna that I’d been obsessing over for days would be sold in a frozen case?! Sound weird? Well, here’s the thing: “sushi-grade” fish is flash-frozen to kill off any potentially harmful bacteria or parasites, so that it’s safe to eat. Now with this being said, although the risk of ingesting a parasite is very low, anytime you consuming any type of raw fish or meat there is a risk. When preparing this dish, I recommend thawing the ahi a few hours in advance in the refrigerator and keeping it chilled until you are ready to use it.
Now that the nerve-wracking sh*t is out of the way, lets talk about how damn good this recipe is! The sweetness of the hoisin sauce, spiciness of the sriracha and tartness of the grapefruit all combine with the ahi tuna to produce such an amazing flavor! The edamame, avocado and cucumbers have a mild taste and a slight crunch to balance out the dish.
And don’t forget those bomb-ass crispy won-tons! They deserve some shine! They double as a scooping device so no fork or chop-sticks are needed. Yes they are store-bought but who has time to be making won-tons from scratch anyway? The crispiness of won-tons adds a nice crunch to the the soft tuna and avocado.
Wait until I tell you that you don’t even fry the won-tons! All you do is arrange them on a pre-heated and oiled baking sheet and lightly brush them with olive oil and then flip them once golden on one side. Stick them back in the oven and within 6-10 minutes total you’ll have perfectly crispy won-tons that taste just as good as if they were fried!
Next you want to take your thawed tuna (it should be reddish-pink in color) and cut it into small cubes. Season the ahi with salt and fresh cracked black pepper. Add lime juice, sriracha, sesame oil and hoisin sauce and toss lightly.
At this point you want to add all that delicious green stuff! Add the sliced cucumber, diced avocado,edamame, grapefruit and toss again making sure that all the vegetables are coated with the sauce. Top with green onions, a sprinkle of sesame seeds and a squeeze of fresh lime juice and get ready to dig in!
While I will say that the won-tons are such an important part of this dish, you might be something that’s a little more filling. Want to enjoy this dish poke-bowl style? Serve over jasmine rice instead! Or you could go all out on the carbs and have the rice and won-tons with zero F’s given!
Until next time, stay snatched and stay full!
-C. Michele
Fresh Ahi Tuna Bowl with Edamame + Avocado + Grapefruit
Ingredients
Crispy Won-tons:
- 24 won-ton wrappers store bought
- 4 tablespoons olive oil divided
Ahi Tuna Tartare
- 8 ounces sushi grade ahi tuna*
- 2 teaspoon kosher or himalayan sea salt divided
- 1 teaspoon 1 tsp. fresh cracked black pepper
- ½ lime juiced
- 4 tablespoons sriracha
- 4 tablespoons hoisin sauce
- ½ grapefruit cut up into pieces
- 2 medium avocados pitted and diced
- ½ cucumber (seeds removed and sliced)
- green onion
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds (white or black is fine)
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
Instructions
Start off by preparing the won-tons
- Preheat the oven to 450° F
- Brush 2 18×13 inch baking pan with 2 tbsp. olive oil and stick in the oven for 5-6 minutes. If you don’t have 2 baking sheets you will just have to work in batches.
- Remove the baking sheets from the oven and arrange won-tons into 3 rows of 4 on each. Brush the tops of the won-tons with remaining 2 teaspoon of olive oil and bake for 3-5 minutes until golden brown in color. The edges will brown and the centers of the won-tons will raise up, this is ok!
- Remove the won-tons from oven and flip each one using a small pair of silicone cooking tongs or a flat spatula.
- Put the won-tons back in the oven and bake for another 2-3 minutes, watching closely to make sure they don’t get too brown.
- Remove the won-tons from the oven and transfer to a paper towel and let cool.
Prepare the tuna bowl:
- Chop avocado and slice grapefruit and cucumber, set aside.
- Pat the ahi-tuna with a paper towel and season with salt. I like to salt ahead of time because it draws out some of the water in the fish. Cut the tuna into small ½ inch cubes.
- Transfer the fish into a medium bowl and season with kosher salt and freshly-ground pepper. Add lime juice, sriracha, sesame oil and hoisin sauce and toss lightly. You can measure out the ingredients, or drizzle/coat the fish to your liking, like I do.
- Add the avocado, grapefruit, edamame and cucumbers and toss gently making sure that all ingredients get a light coating of sauce.
- Top with green onions, and sprinkle sesame seeds and freshly cracked black pepper. Give it a nice squeeze of lime, and serve with crispy won-tons on the side.
Notes
Leave a Reply