Tiradito de Atún con Ponzu

Seared Tuna with Spicy Ponzu Sauce & Apple-Cucumber Relish

I grew up eating mostly stir-fries and Chinese-style rice dishes, but I wasn’t really exposed to the Japanese side of Peruvian cooking until I was a teenager. One day after school, a friend’s mom, who was Japanese-Peruvian, made pulpo (octopus) tiraditos, a very traditional tiradito, with a spicy soy sauce as a snack for her houseful of rowdy boys. I went crazy for the sauce. When I asked her for the recipe, mis amigos thought it was so funny. (“Ricardo, you cook?”) My friend’s mom sent me to the Mercado de Surquillo, a very famous and huge old market in Lima, to buy something called “wasabi.” I’d never heard of the Japanese horseradish with the strange name. I loved it, and still use wasabi in sauces whenever I can, like with this tuna.

In this recipe, the bold taste of wasabi in the spicy ponzu sauce works really well with the bigger flavors in tuna and the tangy sweetness of the green apple (my twist on cucumber relish). Lightly pan-searing a thick block of tuna before you slice it does the same work as using a cooking torch to sear the individual slices with hot oil in my other traditional tiradito recipes. You want good color and flavor on the outside of the tuna, but the inside should be rare, with a deep red color. If you don’t have garlic chips it’s not a deal-breaker, but they are really good.

1 If the honey has solidified, warm it in the microwave for a few seconds or on the stovetop. In a small bowl, stir together the honey and lime juice, then toss the apple and cucumber in the dressing. Refrigerate the apple-cucumber relish while you make the tiraditos.

2 Season the block of tuna generously on all sides with salt and pepper, as you would a beef steak. Fill a medium bowl with ice and water (use plenty of ice). Heat the oil in a medium skillet over high heat until very hot, about 2 minutes. Sear the tuna on one side until the flesh just begins to color, about 5 seconds if the oil is the right temperature. If it doesn’t color quickly, remove the tuna from the pan and let the pan heat a little longer. Flip the tuna and repeat the searing process on the remaining three sides (do not sear the ends). Immediately transfer the fish to the ice bath. Let cool for no more than 1 minute, then lightly pat it dry on all sides with a paper towel. Place the tuna on a cutting board and slice it against the grain into 8 pieces (see page 92).

3 Spoon the spicy ponzu sauce on the bottom of one large or four small plates. Neatly arrange the fish slices on top of the sauce with about ½ inch of space between each slice. If you are using a large, round serving platter, you can arrange the fish in a circle, like the rays of the sun, or use a long, rectangular plate and arrange the fish down the middle.

4 Place 1 generous teaspoon of the apple-cucumber relish in the center of each slice of fish and, if desired, nestle 1 garlic chip on top of the relish. Drizzle the olive oil lightly over the fish slices and serve inmediatamente.

Spicy Ponzu Sauce

Makes about ½ cup, enough for 2 large tiradito plates

Homemade ponzu makes all the difference in the flavor of any sauce. It keeps for months in the fridge, and only gets better as it ages.

Stir together the ají amarillo paste, wasabi paste, and ponzu in a small bowl until well combined. Add the leche de tigre, tamari, sesame oil, and olive oil and stir again. Cover and refrigerate the spicy ponzu sauce for up to 4 hours.