Atûn Con Salsa de Pimientos Rojos

Grilled Tuna Steaks with Roasted Red Pepper Anticucho Sauce

In the summer, whenever I visited one of my sisters in Chimbote, a fishing port city north of Lima, and needed a little pocket money, my teenage friends and I would go down to the docks. We would wait for the fishermen to pull in with their big nets so we could help them unload. This was back when the fishermen would literally throw out huge trawling nets, come back to the docks, and reel them in. They would sort through everything they caught right there on the docks and throw back whatever fish were too small (and any other sea animals). Local sea lions, known as lobos marinos, or “sea wolves,” were in on the game and would sometimes lumber onto the docks or swim up nearby in the water and “break” the net by pushing it down with their fins to steal a few fish of their own. We tried to be more polite than they were (and were earning our keep by helping to sort fish), so afterward, the fishermen would let us pick out a fish or two to take home. We’d head back to my house to clean and cut the fish into little chunks to fry up as snacks for whoever was hungry. I still like to cut fish into smaller pieces, especially thicker cuts like tuna, because they cook more evenly. Big pieces of fish tend to overcook around the edges before the center is ready.

Tuna has such a delicate texture that it’s better when cooked until only rare (medium-rare, if you must) so the flesh is still tender and very juicy. If you use swordfish, grill the steaks several minutes longer (the very firm flesh must be cooked thoroughly so it becomes tender). Make a whole batch of red pepper anticucho sauce and use the leftovers to grill cauliflower later in the week. You can also use the same technique with blackened eggplant (page 87).

1 Cut each tuna steak into 2 or 3 medium-size pieces and put the fish in a medium bowl. With tuna, I usually have the whole fish and can cut the steaks into tidy rectangles that look nice on the plate, but trim the steaks however you can. Try to cut them as evenly as possible, so they cook uniformly. Set aside 3 tablespoons of the red pepper anticucho sauce in a small dish for serving. Coat all sides of the fish with the remaining anticucho sauce and let the fish marinate for 10 to 15 minutes.

2 Meanwhile, prepare a regular or hibachi grill for direct, high-heat cooking and place a fish grate on top. When the grill is very hot, place the tuna steaks on the fish grate (reserving the marinade in the bowl) and grill until the bottom side is well seared and the flesh colors to about halfway up the sides, 4 to 5 minutes if your grill is really hot. (Unlike for many of my grilling recipes, as they cook, do not lift the fish steaks; let them rest on the grate.) When seared, flip the fish steaks (use a spatula to gently loosen the fish if it sticks to the grill) and baste each with the marinade. Keep basting the fish every minute or two. Grill the tuna until rare, or still bright red in the center, usually only about 2 minutes more. (If using swordfish, grill until medium to medium-well or fairly firm to the touch, a solid 5 minutes or longer, depending on the thickness of the steaks.) Brush the fish generously with the marinade again, flip them one more time, and immediately transfer to a clean serving plate.

3 Drizzle the reserved red pepper anticucho sauce on top of the steaks and around the plate. Serve with quinoa or rice, if desired.