Orange Sesame Albacore Tuna with Hoisin on Curried Rice Salad

Peanut butter and jelly; thunder and lightening; horse and carriage. What do these things have in common? Are you stumped?  They go with each other beautifully - I mean who has a peanut butter sandwich without the jelly?

That's what we thought about our dinner last night. Everything went together beautifully - from the fish to the curried rice salad right on down to the shredded spinach and grilled peach. It was a perfect marriage of flavor, texture, color and taste. Modest aren't we?

 

The recipe for the tuna came from the Oregon Albacore Commission which is rather fitting since the tuna came fresh off a boat at dock in Newport, Oregon. We brought the fish home to Tucson in a cooler loaded with other precious Oregon products all on dry ice. If I'd known how darn tasty it was going to be, we'd have come home with another one too - ya, think I can talk Big Guy into going back for one? It's only 1435.7 miles - 23 hours and 51 minutes. Heck, we could go there and back in a weekend but who on earth would want to leave that quickly. It is beautiful there!

The loin is marinated in a mixture of orange juice, sesame oil, mustard, fresh tarragon and sesame seeds for a few hours then grilled for about 9 minutes total. Brushed with hoisin during the last few minutes of cooking, it almost glows when it comes off the grill. 

Allowed it to rest for a few minutes, then sliced and perched on top of a curried rice salad that I threw together with ingredients hiding in the pantry and fridge, darned if it wasn't just the most perfect thing you can imagine.

If you're lucky enough to find fresh Albacore tuna, you've absolutely got to give this one a try. Albacore is way more than just a fish you find in a can and totally different in texture and flavor than sushi kind (Ahi). The marinade and hoisin glaze would work well with shrimp or halibut or even cod too. Just don't marinate them for too long otherwise the juice will "cook" the fish and you'll have something resembling ceviche which is really a whole other thing!

Hit the link and head to the Oregon Albacore Commission's site to see the recipe. We discarded the marinade rather than brushing the loin with it as it cooked - I kind of have a thing about doing that, but the flavor is not to be believed. By the way, don't forget the fresh tarragon either. The mildly sweet anise flavor is amazingly present in the tuna and definitely not in a bad way. It's a real keeper!

Curried Rice Salad (an original from JBug’s Kitchen)

2 cups cooked basmati rice, chilled (I used leftovers)

5 assorted mini sweet bell peppers, seeded and chopped

1/4 cup finely chopped red onion

1/4 cup raisins

1/4 cup toasted almonds

2 tablespoons candied ginger, finely chopped

4 tablespoons olive oil

1-1/2 tablespoon white vinegar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/3 cup prepared mango chutney

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon curry powder

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a large bowl combine rice, peppers, onion, raisins, nuts and candied ginger. In a small jar with a tight fitting lid, combine olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, chutney, garlic and curry powder. Cover jar and shake well to mix. Pour over rice mixture in a bowl and taste for seasoning, adding salt and pepper as required. Refrigerate until serving time. 

A year ago - Maple Ginger Pork Medallions and Salad with Creamy Maple Dressing

Two year's ago - Teriyaki Salmon on Spicy Thai Noodle Salad

 

Three year's ago -  Black Bottom Banana Cream Pie

 

 

Comments

[Lea]

I love how you always pack so much flavor into your food! Me and my sister would be right at home in your house, to be sure! Sweet William is just too bland - :( I am salivating - I would even settle for a PB & J!

[June]

Lea - you bet you would! Sweet William doesn't know what he's missing, but look how far Big Guy has come. I mean he's loving curry and even eats peas (chick and snow). There's hope for William yet! :-)

[Big guy]

Hummm. Sounding like someone is asking to have their food horizons challenged too. Tongue, cheeks, gizzards, heart, and a few other tasty things I bet I could find bring home and cook.
:-)

LU

[June]

Trouble - yikes! I'm in trouble now. Uhhh, that's OK honey. I'll pass.

[Lorraine]

The tuna looks perfectly cooked with the inside still pink, and the salad, well, you know how much I love curry and the inclusion of the candied ginger and the mango chutney...wow! When I get back to writing BG I have the perfect chicken liver pate for you to try out on JBug...he he.

[June]

Lorraine - we're still talking about this one, in fact we had leftover tuna in a salad yesterday for lunch. It was delicious. As for the chicken liver pate' - knock yourself out, kiddo. I happen to like the stuff so he'll have competition at the table. (particularly if there's pickled onions and cornichons with it) Ha.