Corey Heads East

Tuesday for The Bride and I has been Shellfish Tuesday for quite a bit, but now has expanded to Seafood Tuesday.  This week I picked out Seared Ahi With Thai Dipping Sauce on page 305.

To go along with that I wanted some vegetables, but The Guide was a little lacking on something to go along with Asian cuisine.  It did, however, have a few Asian-influenced marinades, which I used for some green beans, mushrooms, and red bell pepper.  I picked out the Sweet Soy Marinade on page 50.  

This is where things got interesting.  One of the ingredients was Mirin, which I had never heard of.  I looked it up and it is basically a sweet rice wine similar to sake and is often used to temper the smell of fish.  It contains a large amount of sugar and is lower in alcohol than sake, and was more difficult to find than I thought.  Long story short, I had to do something a little dirty and purchase it at The Party Source. 

I put everything together, soaked the veggies for about fifteen minutes, rubbed the tuna, and set The Forge for "Surface Of The Sun."  

The grilling was quick as the tuna steak only takes about four minutes.  I then scattered the coals and quick-grilled the vegetable mix. 

A quick peak at the tuna as I plated revealed that I had done good job...much better than last time.  At the fishmonger I remembered that thickness was much more important than mass when trying to just sear the outside and leave the inside intact.

Perfect.  

I plated dinner, called The Bride, and we set about feasting. 

The tuna was, again, perfect.  The white pepper in the rub added a hint of sweetness and a nice intensity and texture.  The dipping sauce was a lot of fun - I even dipped the veggies in it even though they had a great flavor on their own - and gave a pleasant combination of saltiness, citrus, and heat.  As for the veggies, the mushrooms soaked up the marinade the best, the red bell pepper tasted the best, and I didn't quite cook the green beans long enough but I think they would have been quite nice.  The marinade will be used again, as will the Grilled Ahi.  I still think I will tinker with the dipping sauce a little, but it is an excellent starting point.