Sesame Seared Tuna

One of our favorite special occasion dinners is this Sesame Seared Tuna.  It seriously competes with anything that you might order at a fine dining restaurant but for a fraction of the cost.

1/4 c Bragg's Liquid Amino's
1 T mirin or white wine
1 T honey or coconut nectar
2 T sesame oil
1 T rice wine vinegar or rice vinegar with an additional 1 tsp sugar
4 tuna steaks approx 6 oz a piece
1/2 c sesame seeds
gf wasabi paste
1 T olive oil

Combine soy sauce, mirin, hone and sesame oil.  Divide into two equal parts.  Stir in rice wine vinegar into one to make the dipping sauce.  Set aside for serving.

Pat the tuna steaks dry with a paper towel.  Spread sesame seed on a plate.  Coat the tuna steaks with the other soy sauce mixture.  Press each steak into the seeds and set aside.

In preheated cast iron skillet, heat the olive oil over high heat until almost smoking.  Turn heat down.  Immediately place tuna in skillet and sear for 30 seconds per side.

Slice thinly.  Serve with dipping sauce and wasabi paste.

Sesame Orange Crusted Salmon

1/4 c sesame seeds
1 1/2 T grated orange rind
1/2 t white pepper
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 lbs salmon fillets
2 t dark Asian sesame oil

Heat oven to 400 degrees.  Toast sesame seeds in skillet about 5 minutes until golden brown and fragrant. Cool.  Place cooled toasted sesame seeds, orange rind, white pepper and 1/4 tsp salt in food processor.  Whirl until mixture resembles bread crumbs.  Place salmon fillets on aluminum foil lined baking sheet.  Rub with sesame oil.  Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 tsp salt.  Bread fillets with sesame mixture.  Cook for 20 minutes until salmon flakes done.

Thai Chicken & Coconut Rice

I found this recipe via my friend Bethany's cooking blog:  For the Love of Grub.  It is delicious. I have included Bethany's notes at the bottom as well as a few of my own.

Thai Chicken and Coconut Rice
~ Waiting For The Day - Sonlight Forums

2 14 oz. cans coconut milk
2 c. water
1 t. salt
2 c. uncooked long grain rice
6 T. creamy peanut butter
4 T. Bragg's Liquid Aminos
1-4 t. chili garlic paste (depends on how spicy you like things) **
1/4 c. sesame oil
4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed or sliced
6 green onions, sliced
2 medium red bell peppers, sliced thinly

Bring 2 cups coconut milk, water and salt to boil. Stir in rice; cover and reduce heat. Simmer 20 minutes.

OR

Put 2 cups of the coconut milk, water, salt and rice in rice cooker and start cooking.

Meanwhile, whisk remaining milk, peanut butter, Bragg's Aminos and chili garlic paste until blended. Heat sesame oil in large skillet over med-high heat for 2 minutes. Add chicken and stir-fry 5 minutes or until browned. Add onions and bell pepper. Cook, covered, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Add peanut butter mixture and bring to boil. Cook, stirring constantly, for 3 minutes. Serve over rice.

Bethany's Notes: You could easily cut this recipe in half and use as much chicken as you want. Some people add carrots, green beans, broccoli, pineapple, cashews and/or peanuts for flavor or to stretch the dish a little farther. 

*****

Notes:

(1) For us, the addition of the red bell peppers needs to be later in the recipe as they become too soft if cooked for 10 minutes.  We like ours to have a snap to them.  I suggest adding these after the peanut butter mixture is added and begun to boil.  These only need about 2-3 minutes of cooking.


(2)  If adding bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, baby corn or canned bean sprouts, DRAIN, DRAIN, DRAIN for a long time.  Then pour them out onto a couple of layers of paper towels and pat dry.  The high water content will ruin this recipe if you skip this step.


(3) Chili garlic paste will keep in the fridge for a long time.  Do not skip this ingredient.  We use only 1 1/2 tsp so that it is not too spicy for the younger members of the family.  You can also add some to your individual plate when you eat it.


(4) We will also substitute shrimp for the chicken to change it up.  You could probably also use pork chunks but I have not tried it yet.