Seared ahi tuna with wasabi-butter sauce

A steal-of-a-deal on frozen ahi-tuna steaks ($5 for a pound) at Trader Joe's led to this latest culinary adventure. An online search yielded this recipe for a wasabi-butter sauce over seared tuna steaks, which sounded particularly promising. While the tablespoon of wasabi was a little scary-sounding (particularly for a spiceaphobic person such as myself), but the recipe assured me that it would mellow out to just the flavour.

Recipe

from Allrecipes.comServes 41 tbsp white wine vinegar3/4 cup white wine1/2 cup onions, chopped1 tbsp wasabi paste1 tbsp soy sauce1/2 cup butter, cubed1/3 cup cilantro leaves, chopped2 8 oz. ahi-tuna steaks1 tbsp olive oilCombine white wine vinegar, whine wine and onions in a small saucepan over medium heat. Simmer until reduced to about 2 tbsp. Strain out onions and discard, returning liquid to the pan. Stir the wasabi and soy sauce into the reduction. Over low heat, gradually whisk in butter, one cube at a time. When all the butter is incorporated, stir in cilantro and remove from heat.Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Pour olive oil into the pan. Place tuna steaks into the hot skill and sear for 3-5 minutes each side. Be careful not to overcook, as it should still be pink in the center. Serve with sauce.

Musings

David noted that next time he would probably cook the steaks for a fraction less time. Other than that, everything was tasty. The sauce was especially delicious--piquant, but not spicy, and full of flavour. I suppose I'd never really considered the taste of wasabi, as I always avoided it in sush/sashimi-eating because of its heat, but it really was a wonderful flavour. My prior tuna experience was also quite limited, but I rather enjoyed it. It almost had the texture of tender meat. Paired very well with the wasabi-butter sauce.