Seared Tuna with Mango Salsa

This weeks Food Network Chef’s Challenge hosted by I Blame My Mother is Ina Garten from Barefoot Contessa.  I just absolutely love Ina, I think everything she cooks looks fabulous and she makes even the hardest recipes seem easy.  I choose to do her Seared Tuna with Mango Salsa, mainly because my parents just got back from Cabo San Lucas, Mexico where my Dad caught fresh tuna and brought us some home.  I was so excited about the fresh tuna mainly because I’ve never eaten it, and certainly never cooked it before.  I was a little anxious especially since the recipe calls to leave the center of the tuna steaks raw.  But I was up for the challenge and I am so glad I did.

This recipe was so fantastic.  DT usually dislikes any fish, but he just loved this.  Since the steaks are seared they form a bit of a crust almost as if it were fried, they have no fishy taste at all, just delicious meat nothing like the canned variety.  And the Mango salsa was so delicious, I love the contrasts of flavor mango, garlic, and ginger.  The original recipe calls for fresh mint, but since I couldn’t find any at our local grocery store I used cilantro instead, I think it went beautifully with the salsa.  I know this recipe will be a repeat in our house soon.  Let me show you how to make it.

Ingredients: 2 tablespoons good olive oil, plus extra for searing, 1 1/2 cups diced yellow onion (2 onions), 2 teaspoons peeled, minced fresh ginger, 1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic, 2 ripe mangos, peeled, seeded, and small diced, 1/3 cup freshly squeezed orange juice, 2 teaspoons light brown sugar (I used 1 tsp agave nectar), 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, 1 to 2 teaspoons minced fresh jalapeno pepper, to taste (1 pepper), 2 teaspoons minced fresh mint leaves (I used cilantro)

Hopefully you will find some beautiful mango’s like these, pictured is three but the recipe only calls for 2.

The tuna, not the prettiest thing raw, but caught less than a week ago, in Mexico.  Thanks Dad.  There were able to freeze the fish and fly it back to Texas.  Amazing.

To start off in a large skillet heat 2 Tablespoons of olive oil then add 2 diced onions

meanwhile go ahead and peel and dice

a 2 inch piece of ginger

Let cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes until onions and ginger are softened.  If you’ve never eaten fresh ginger please do try it, the flavor is amazing and so much better than the ground ginger.

While that’s cooking dice up 4 cloves of garlic

then add them to the onions and ginger and cook 1 more minute

Now it’s time to chop the mango,  a mango has a large flat seed in the middle of it which can make peeling and dicing it a bit of a challenge.  But this works best for me.

To start with peel the mango leaving the stem in tact

Then hold the top of the stem and slice directly down trying to get as close to the flat side of the seed as possible.  If you hit something hard and woody that’s the seed just move the blade a little and try again.

Repeat on the other side, then try to get as much off the side as you can, the mango close to the seed is usually tough.

Once you have all the mango chop into a small dice

then add the mangoes to the onion mixture and cook on low for about 10 more minutes

Then juice the oranges for 1/3 cup orange juice, if you don’t have oranges just use store bought juice.

Then chop the jalapeno, removing all seeds

to a fine dice

*pretend there is a fine dice picture*

go ahead and chop the cilantro or mint

after the mangos have cooked down a bit

add the orange juice

and jalapenos

and a drizzle of agave nectar (or 2 tsp brown sugar)

then add about a tsp kosher salt, and 1/2 tsp black pepper

stir well and cook until orange juice has reduced down and then remove from heat

and add chopped cilantro (or mint) and set aside

Then heat a large skillet over high heat, it should be screeching hot when you put the steaks on it, because you want the outside to sear really quickly leaving the center raw.

liberally sprinkle the tuna steaks with kosher salt and black pepper on both sides.

Drizzle a little oil olive on the skillet and cook the steaks for about 2-3 minutes on each side

then flip over and cook another 2-3 minutes, depending on the thickness of the steaks

The remove the steaks slice, and serve on top of the mango salsa.

If you don’t like the idea of the center’s being raw, go ahead and cook a little longer, its still wonderful!

my favorite part was the crispy crust that the searing made, it was just divine!

Print This RecipeSeared Tuna with Mango Salsa

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Ingredients

2 tablespoons good olive oil, plus extra for searing

1 1/2 cups diced yellow onion (2 onions)

2 teaspoons peeled, minced fresh ginger

1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic

2 ripe mangos, peeled, seeded, and small diced

1/3 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

2 teaspoons light brown sugar (I used 1 tsp agave nectar)

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 to 2 teaspoons minced fresh jalapeno pepper, to taste (1 pepper)

2 teaspoons minced fresh mint leaves (I used cilantro)

2 tuna steaks

Directions

Saute the olive oil, onions, and ginger in a large saute pan over medium-low heat for 10 minutes, or until the onions are translucent. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add the mangos, reduce the heat to low and cook for 10 more minutes. Add the orange juice, brown sugar, salt, black pepper, and jalapeno; cook for 10 more minutes, until orange juice is reduced, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and add the mint. Serve warm, at room temperature, or chilled.

Heat a saute pan over high heat for 5 minutes until very hot. Season the tuna liberally with salt and pepper. When the pan is very hot, add a drizzle of olive oil and then the tuna steaks. Sear for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, or until the outside is browned, but the inside is very rare.

Serve the tuna on top of the mango salsa.

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