Here’s another popular preparation from Matsuri, Tadashi’s restaurant—rich, creamy avocado meets dense, intense tuna, with the wasabi and lime juice adding heat and bite. Use only sushi grade tuna for this recipe (yellowfin or bigeye [ahi]tuna are great choices) and perfectly ripe avocados. Allow the fish to come to room temperature before grilling, and grill quickly—we like our tuna cooked rare, as we explain in the method. If you prefer, grill the fish for 3 minutes for medium-rare or 4 minutes for medium, but not more than that; if you overcook tuna, it turns tough and rubbery.
Ingredients
- 2 avocados, pitted, peeled, and cut into small chunks
- tablespoon wasabi
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives (you can substitute finely chopped scallions)
- ½ cup Garlic–Soy Sauce Marinade
- 4 tuna steaks (about 2 pounds), about ¾ inch thick
How to Make It
- Add the avocados, wasabi, lime juice, salt, and chives to a bowl; mash the ingredients together with a fork; set aside.
- Pour the garlic–soy sauce marinade into a baking dish or rimmed sheet pan. Lay the tuna steaks in the marinade and gently flip them 4 times until the fish is coated all over.
- Preheat a grill to medium-hot. Brush the cooking grate clean and oil it well. Grill the tuna quickly, about 2 minutes, turning once. You want to just sear the surface and quickly caramelize the marinade. The tuna should be rare to almost raw inside. Remove from the grill, spoon the avocado puree on top of the tuna, and serve immediately.
