Those of my vintage may remember this dish from the eighties fondly as Tataki of Tuna: a log of ludicrously rubied fish, rolled in pepper, briefly seared and eaten finely sliced with shredded spring onions and twiggy strips of cucumber. Dunk in soy as you eat or go for the Vietnamese dipping sauce to go with it, or simply make up a few blobs of sinus-clearing wasabi. And if you do have some wasabi to hand, you can use this for smearing over the tuna, before coating it with peppercorns, in place of the English mustard stipulated below.
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon English mustard
3–4 tablespoons black peppercorns, crushed roughly in a pestle and mortar
500g sashimi-quality tuna fillet, cut in a log of even thickness at either end
to serve:
cucumber, cut into slender batons
a few spring onions, cut into short lengths and then into fine strips
In a small bowl mix the oil and mustard, and use a pastry brush to paint it on the tuna. Roll the tuna in the crushed peppercorns so that the long sides of the log are covered, but the ends are not.
Heat a dry frying pan until it’s very hot and cook the tuna on all the long sides, searing the fish to about 3mm in a circle around the edge. You’ll be able to see how much of it’s cooked, because the ruby flesh will turn brown and the depth of the ring, if you see what I mean, will be evident from the uncoated round ends. Take out of the pan immediately and cool on a plate.
With a sharp knife cut into the finest slices you can and serve with the cucumber and spring onions and soy, dipping sauce, wasabi, as you please.
Serves 8 as a starter.