Recipes / Fish
Braaied tuna steaks with soy, ginger and lemon
Thick tuna steaks marinated for 30 minutes in soy, ginger, garlic and lemon, seared over very hot coals and sliced to serve.
- Prep
- 15 min
- On the fire
- 8 min
- Plan ahead
- 30 minutes marinating
- Serves
- 4
- Done at
- 145°F (63°C)
Ingredients
Marinade
To serve
Method
Cooking on gas?
- Preheat with all burners on high and the lid closed for 10 to 15 minutes, until the lid thermometer reads 260°C (500°F) or more. Brush the grates clean and oil them.
- Cook with the lid open and use the recipe times as a guide, checking with a thermometer.
- Keep one burner off or on low as a cooler zone. If fat flares up, move the food there. Never use water on a gas grill flare-up.
- For a smoky taste, put a handful of wood chips in a smoker box, or a foil parcel pierced with a few holes, over a lit burner while the grill preheats.
- Whisk all the marinade ingredients together in a shallow glass dish.
- Lay the tuna in the marinade in one layer and turn it to coat. Cover and keep in the fridge for 30 minutes, turning once. Do not leave it longer, as the lemon starts to cook the fish.
- Build a hot fire and let the coals burn down until you can hold your hand above the grid for only 2 to 3 seconds. Oil the grid well.
- Lift the tuna out, let the marinade drip off and pat the surface lightly with paper towel so it sears.
- Pour the marinade into a small pot and boil it at the edge of the fire for 3 minutes. This is your sauce.
- Cook the steaks over the hottest coals for 3 to 4 minutes a side, turning once. Do not move them while each side cooks.
- Rest the steaks for 2 minutes, then slice thickly. Spoon over the boiled sauce and scatter with spring onion, sesame seeds and a little flaky salt.
Done when: the outside is well browned, the flesh has turned pale and opaque all the way through, and a thermometer in the centre reads 63°C (145°F).
Tips
- Many people eat tuna pink in the middle. Only do that with very fresh, sushi-grade tuna from a fishmonger you trust, and know that it is below the safe temperature.
- Tuna has almost no fat, so a minute too long dries it out. Use a thermometer and take it off as soon as it reaches 63°C (145°F).
- Thin steaks of under 2 cm (3/4 inch) cook through in 2 minutes a side. Buy them thick if you can.
Yellowfin and longfin tuna are caught by ski-boats and commercial boats off Cape Point and the Western Cape coast, and fresh steaks turn up at fishmongers through summer. A thick steak behaves more like a beef steak than a piece of fish: it needs very hot coals, a short cook and a rest before slicing. For more on fire heat and fish, read braaiing fish.
Source
Adapted from Grilled Tuna Steak at Alphafoodie.