Tuna & Mango Tataki Salad

LUNCH, MAIN MEALS, RECIPES, SALADS, SEASONS, SPRING, SUMMER

When making this recipe make sure to lightly sear the tuna as I truly believe tuna tastes better either raw or lightly seared. Once tuna is cooked it becomes tough and loses its flavour. This salad is particularly nice eaten while the tuna is warm, so don’t waste any time once it’s ready and try to eat it straight away.

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Ingredients:

Mixed sesame seeds to coat the tuna

Salt and pepper to season the tuna

100g fresh tuna steak/loin

Vegetable oil

A few handfuls of mixed salad leaves

1 ripened mango, peeled and cut into strips

For the dressing:

2 teaspoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon rice vinegar

½ teaspoon sesame oil

Instructions:

1 Mix together the sesame seeds, salt and pepper on a flat plate.

2 Place the tuna on the plate and coat each side in sesame seeds.

3 Heat a little vegetable oil in a non-stick frying pan on a medium to high heat.

4 Place the tuna on the pan and sear each side lightly (less than 1 minute for each side).

5 Transfer to a chopping board and, using a sharp knife, thinly slice the tuna.

6 Place the mixed salad leaves on a serving dish along with the mango strips.

7 Carefully place the tuna slices on top.

8 Mix all the ingredients for the dressing in a bowl and, just before serving, pour over the salad.

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JAPANESE MISO SALMON SALAD RECIPE

Recent research carried out by Bord Bia shows that Irish people like eating fish when dining out however as an island nation we are surprisingly not confident cooking fresh fish at home. Bord Bia has launched a campaign to encourage Irish people to buy more fresh fish and as part of this campaign they posted simple fish recipes and advice from celebrity chef Martin Shanahan on their website.

Here are some of my tips for buying fresh fish: 

• Try to buy fish from your local fishmonger
• Don't be afraid to ask your fishmonger to fillet, debone or skin your fish
• Fresh fish should have a nice fresh sea smell and not a foul smell. It should look shiny, have bright eyes, red gills and any liquid on the fish should be clear
• Ask your fishmonger lots of questions to educate yourself about fish (e.g. when was the fish caught, where does it come from, is it wild or farmed fish etc)

MISO SALMON SALAD

When cooking fresh fish it can easily become dry and overcooked. By cooking fish in a sauce it will become tender and moist.

INGREDIENTS: 
2 x salmon fillet
Few large handfuls of spinach salad leaves
Few handfuls of cherry tomatoes
Roasted sesame seeds (to garnish)

For the miso sauce
120ml cold water
2 tbsp miso
2tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp soya sauce
1 tbsp freshly grated ginger
3 tbsp sake (Japanese rice wine) 

Serves 2

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Place all ingredients for the miso sauce in a medium sized saucepan, then using a whisk/fork mix until there's no lumps. 
2. Put on medium heat and after a few minutes it will start to simmer. Let it simmer for a few minutes. 
3. Gently place the salmon fillets in the saucepan side by side with the skin facing up.
4. Cut out a circle of  grease proof paper the size of the saucepan and use this to cover the salmon fillets. You can use a lid to cover the saucepan if you don't have grease proof paper. 
5. Continue to simmer for another 15 minutes and then set aside.
6. Place the spinach leaves, cherry tomatoes and salmon fillets in a large salad bowl. 
7. Using your hand or a large spoon break up the salmon fillets into chunks.
8. Just before serving pour the miso sauce over the salad ingredients and mix well.
9. Sprinkle roasted sesame seeds over the salad.
 

QUICK JAPANESE RECIPE: SMOKED SALMON AND TOFU SALAD WITH WASABI DRESSING

The wasabi in this salad dressing adds a nice kick and goes really well with smoked salmon. You should be able to find all the ingredients for this salad in the world food section of your local supermarket or your local health store.

Salad ingredients:
100g mixed salad leaves
100g smoked salmon (cut into bite size strips)
200g tofu (drained and cut into small cubes)
2 x peppery radish (thinly sliced)
Freshly chopped mint & basil (optional to garnish)

Japanese dressing ingredients:
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp vegetable oil
Half tsp sesame oil
1 tsp wasabi paste

Serves 2

Instructions:

1. Toss the salad leaves, smoked salmon and radish together in a salad bowl.

2. Gently add the tofu pieces.

3. Stir all the Japanese dressing ingredients in a small jug.

4. Pour the dressing over the salad just before eating.

5. Garnish with freshly chopped mint and basil if you have some.

Why not:

Add prawns instead of salmon.

Tips:

Make sure to stir the salad dressing ingredients just before pouring over the salad as the wasabi will sink to the bottom of the jug.

Japanese Renkon & Wakame Salad - Lotus Root & Seaweed Salad

This is a refreshing and healthy salad that can be quickly prepared. You don't have to follow the exact ingredients listed below, use whatever you have in the fridge! 

Click here to see my last post on lotus root which has a brief note on the health benefits associated with lotus root and where it can be sourced.  

 
Ingredients:
300g renkon/ lotus root (peeled and cut into thin slices)
1 medium sized carrot (peeled and cut into julienne strips)
Half a large cucumber (remove seeds and cut into julienne strips)
1 tbsp dried wakame (seaweed)
1 tsp vinegar
2 tbsp mayo
1 tsp Japanese soya sauce
Salt & Pepper (to season)

Instructions:

1. Add 1 tsp of  vinegar and sliced lotus root to a mediun sized saucepan of boiling water and boil for 10 mins. 

2. Remove the lotus root from the water and set aside to cool on kitchen towel to remove excess water.

3. Place the dried wakame in a bowl of cold water for about 10 minutes. Then remove the wakame from the water and place on kitchen towel to remove the excess water. 

4. Place the cooled lotus root, wakame, carrots and cucumber in a large salad bowl.

5. Add 2 tbsp of mayo, 1 tsp of soya sauce and pepper. 

6. Mix well and serve chilled.

Tips:

After peeling lotus root it can quickly turn brown so soak it in water and vinegar if you're not going to use it immediately. 

Where can I find lotus root? 

In most Asian markets

What are the health benefits associated with lotus root?

Low in calories and high in dietary fibre, iron, vitamin C, vitamin B-6, thiamim and riboflavin.