Asian tuna tartare crisps - restaurant favorite at home

 

One of my favorite things to eat in the whole wide world is the Ahi Tuna Crisps at P.F. Chang's. Delicious raw tuna with an Asian-inspired vinaigrette I decided to give it a try at home after my husband texted me that he'd picked up some sushi-grade tuna at our favorite local market, Walt Churchill's Market.

 

To make this you absolutely need to use sushi-grade raw tuna. And once you buy it, you'll need to keep it cold. So, plan to use it soon and keep in wrapped in plastic in a bowl of ice in the refrigerator. 

 

For this I used a little less than a pound of tuna, but half a pound would probably be plenty. So gather these ingredients:

 

Sushi- grade raw tuna

Soy Sauce

2 limes or bottled lime juice

Fresh ginger

Sesame Oil

Brown sugar (optional)

One jalapeno or some jalapeno salsa

2 to 3 avocados

Cilantro (optional)

 

 

 

Let's start with the vinaigrette. Start with the soy sauce. For this vinaigrette I used 1/4 cup soy, 1/4 cup sesame oil and 1/4 cup lime juice. I think next time I'll use less soy, maybe 1/8 of a cup. 

 

Just pour out the soy into a bowl.

 

Add the sesame oil. Make sure to get sesame oil - it really makes a big difference in the flavor.

 

Then squeeze the lime juice or pour it out of a bottle.

 

 

 

Grate some fresh ginger into the bowl. I keep a knob in the freezer.

 

 

 

Whisk it all together and give it a taste. Add salt if you think it needs it. If you prefer it sweeter, add a teaspoon or two of brown sugar. 

 

 

Now, let's dice up the avocado. These were a little softer and a bit browner than I would have liked. I was careful when I diced then.

 

 

Toss the avocado with some of the vinaigrette. The acid will prevent it from browning. You can either finely dice a fresh jalapeno or use some jalapeno salsa like I did here.

 

 

 

Toss it all lightly together. If you choose to add cilantro, dice or snip it finely and add it to the bowl.

 

 Now let's get to work on the tuna. Make sure you sharpen your knife first. It might also help to put the tuna in the freezer for about twenty minutes.

 

 

 

 Our goal is to dice the tuna into fine small cubes. I did a so/so job here.

 

 

 I put a metal bowl into another bowl of ice to keep the tuna chilled while I cut it.

 

 

 Toss the tuna in the vinaigrette. Spoon it a teaspoon or so at a time. You want to coat the tuna, but not drown it.

 

 

Mix the tuna just a little bit at a time into the avocado/jalapeno mixture. Be careful not to bruise the avocado or mush it too much.

 

 

I served the tuna tartar on Tostito rounds. At P.F. Chang's they use little fried won-ton rounds. You could probably get forty or more crisps out of this batch depending on how heavily you load the chips.

 

 

Our cat Cujo was very enthused at the smell.

 

 

It turned out absolutely delicious. Give it a try sometime.