Sous vide Seared Ahi

Tonight I decided to prepare seared ahi, a dish I regularly enjoyed ‘back in the day’. But as you all should be used to by now, I wanted to try something different and preparing it using sous vide sounded like a wonderful way to go. So after doing some research, I opted to use the information provided by the Serious Eats crew for preparing ahi using sous vide. The beauty of this dish is it’s simplicity, it’s richness, and it’s versatility. And for this preparation, I opted to cook the ahi with no seasoning or oils until time to sear. This decision allows me full latitude to enjoy the tuna as well as indulge whatever flavors that pique my tastebuds at the time – and this time it was a piquant blood orange sauce.

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Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 2 mins

Total time: 7 mins

Serves: 1

Ingredients

8 - 10 oz ahi tuna steak
2 tsp peanut or canola oil
kosher salt
fresh ground black pepper

Options:
sesame seeds
grated ginger in ponzu
blood orange sauce

Instructions

Place the tuna steak into a vacuum or ziptop bag and vacuum seal.
Heat the water bath to 108 degrees and place the tuna into the bath.
Cook in the water bath for at least 30 minutes and no longer than 1 hour.
Use shorter times for thinner ahi steaks (i.e.under 1 inch) and longer times for thicker steaks.
Remove the tuna from the bag and pat dry.
Add salt and pepper to each side.
Heat the oil in a small cast iron or non-stick skillet over High heat until just starting to smoke.
Sear the tuna on each side for 30 to 45 seconds.
Use tongs to hold the ahi while searing the edges.
Plate the ahi and dress as desired.

Notes

I placed the ahi on a bed of quinoa and couscous to skip the cliche 'bed of rice'.

Place the tuna steak into a vacuum or ziptop bag and vacuum seal. Heat the water bath to 108 degrees and place the tuna into the bath. Cook in the water bath for 15 to 30 minutes. Use shorter times for thinner ahi steaks (i.e.under 1 inch) and longer times for thicker steaks.

Remove the tuna from the bag and pat dry. Add salt and pepper to each side. Heat the oil in a small cast iron or non-stick skillet over High heat until just starting to smoke. Sear the tuna on each side for 30 to 45 seconds. Use tongs to hold the ahi while searing the edges. Plate the ahi and dress as desired.