Seared Yellowfin Tuna and Stir Fried Bok Choy

I enjoy making lunches with fresh seafood because it is quick, light and easy to portion for just one. It's also nice to indulge in a more expensive piece, because I need so little of it. Today's lunch consisted of a small piece of sushi grade yellowfin tuna and a side of stir fried bok choy.

Seared Yellowfin Tuna for one

I wanted a simple Asian marinade and initially thought to use only oil, rice vinegar and ginger until I saw this recipe from Simply Recipes. Since I had everything it called for on hand, I went ahead and added the extra ingredients, to lovely effect. When making one serving only, I went with the following proportions:

1 sushi grade tuna steak (4-5 oz)

Marinade:

1 TB sesame oil
1 TB soy sauce (I used a mix of light and dark)
1 TB rice wine vinegar
a bit of fresh ginger, crushed and minced (about a half inch)
a bit of sliced green onion (about an inch)
a squeeze of fresh lime juice



Mix marinade ingredients together and whisk lightly to combine. Coat the tuna with the marinade and leave in the bowl, covering tightly with plastic wrap and and refrigerating for about half an hour. Turn over half way through.

Heat a nonstick skillet to medium high heat. When the pan is hot, remove tuna from the marinade and place in the pan. Sear quickly on each side, just long enough to get a nice crust on the surface. Turn the tuna to let all sides get seared. I like the tuna very rare on the inside, so I didn't leave it long, but you can increase the amount of time based on how rare you like it.

Remove from pan and slice.

Stir Fried Bok Choy for one (adapted from a recipe at Seasaltwithfood)

1 large bok choy cut into 1 inch pieces or 2 baby bok choys left whole or cut in half
1-2 cloves of garlic, sliced
1 TB oil (canola or peanut)
1 TB oyster sauce
2 TB water
sea salt to taste



Clean and cut the bok choy. I also like to dissolve the oyster sauce into the water to make it easier to mix in to the dish while cooking.

Heat oil over medium low heat and add garlic, letting saute very briefly until fragrant and translucent. Quickly remove the garlic to prevent from overcooking and becoming bitter. Set aside. Increase heat to high and add bok choy, stirring quickly. As it begins to just wilt, add water with oyster sauce and garlic. Mix sauce to coat then season with sea salt. Remove from heat and serve.

The finished dish:


Forgive the inept plating and photography.

I get my soy sauce, sesame oil and rice vinegars from Hong Kong Market in Gretna.