How to Sear Tuna
Seared tuna is a delicious and healthy way to enjoy your tuna steak. Like any regular steak, you can enjoy it rare to medium to well-done. Here’s how you can prepare seared tuna in your kitchen and enjoy it with your family. Read on for more.
Tools
Charcoal
Charcoal starter
Grill
Procedure
Light the charcoals and ensure that your charcoal grill is ready to be used. Learn more on how to light charcoal in this article: How to Light Charcoal.
seared tuna
Heat the charcoals to a high temperature. This will ensure that none of the tuna will end up sticking on the grills, and this will make cooking time easier too. A high temperature will also make sure that your tuna is cooked, since tuna meat has a tendency to become tough when overcooked even slightly.
To get the intense temperature that you want, rack up the coals and close the grate.
If you don’t have a charcoal grill, a cast-iron skillet will work just as nicely when searing tuna.
Slice your tuna steak into one-inch slices. This will give you the best results when cooking.
If your tuna steak is really fresh (like sashimi), you can just brush some olive oil, salt and freshly-cracked black pepper all over your tuna steak, and you can do this just right before you put it on the grill.
If you’re not too sure about the tuna steak’s freshness, you can use a light marinade for it instead. Don’t use anything too acidic, as this will be overwhelming for the tuna steak. Make a simple marinade using lemon juice, olive oil, herbs and spices.
Sear each side for 90 seconds each. If you prefer having thicker cuts of tuna, add another 45 seconds to each half-inch thickness that you’ve added and divide them into two flips. For example, if you’ve got yourself a two-inch steak, you’ll need 180 seconds to cook each side. Instead of using the 180 seconds in one go, cook each side for 90 seconds before flipping to the other side. Flip again for a second round to finish the 180 seconds it needs to cook.
Place the tuna steak to one side of the grill, to lower heat, for several more seconds before completely removing the tuna from the heat.
Unlike meat, you don’t need to let the meat rest. You can serve the tuna immediately, preferably with a side of salad or sauce.
What you’re looking for in a perfectly-seared tuna is an evenly-colored, evenly-cooked slice with a slightly caramelized shell with no burns or dark patches. With proper preparation and a little practice on keeping time, you’ll be able to serve up perfect seared tuna in no time.