Care to share a blackening recipe for tuna steaks?

I'm just going to post this word for word from the man himself, Paul Prudomme from the cookbook "Paul Prodhomme's Louisiana Kitchen", which is my bible for cajun cooking. As you'll read, one thing he notes is that he doesn't recommend using this on fillets thicker than 3/4 inch. With tuna, that may not be an issue since you probably want it more on the rare side in the middle.
I've made this numerous times, but mainly with snapper. Never tried it with tuna. Be warned though, this kicks up a LOT of smoke. I have to open the doors, run a fan and turn off the smoke alarm!

Paul Prudomme's Blackened Redfish

Makes 6 servings

3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, melted in a skillet
Seasoning Mix
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon cayenne
3/4 teaspoon white pepper
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

6 (8-10-ounce) fish fillets (preferably redfish, pompano or tilefish), cut to about 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch thick.

Heat a large cast-iron skillet over very high heat until it is beyond the smoking stage and you see white ash in the skillet bottom (the skillet cannot be too hot for this dish), at least 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, pour 2 tablespoons melted butter in each of 6 small ramkins; set aside and keep warm. Reserve the remaining butter in its skillet. Heat the serving plates in a 250 degree oven.

Thoroughly combine the seasoning mix ingredients in a small bowl. Dip each fillet in the reserved melted butter so that both sides are well coated; then sprinkle seasoning mix generously and evenly on both sides of the fillets, patting it in by hand. Place in the hot skillet and pour 1 tablespoon melted butter on top of each fillet (be careful, as the butter may flame up). Cook, uncovered, over the same high heat until the underside looks charred, about 2 minutes (the time will vary according to the fillet's thickness and the heat of the skillet). Turn the fish over and again pour 1 teaspoon butter on top; cook until fish is done, about 2 minutes more. Repeat with remaining fillets.

To serve, place one fillet with a ramekin of butter on each heated serving plate.

we catch Tuna locally and our favorite recipe for Tuna is:

1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup sherry
1/4 cup fresh minced ginger
2 tablespoon oyster sauce
2 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoon lemon juice
fresh pepper to taste

1" steaks marinate for 1 hr

grill on very hot bq for 1.5 minutes per side

(not blackened but very god and the sesame oil is fantastic)

Steve

P.S.

Fresh (1 day) or nothing around here (we are spoiled) :laugh:

Chef Paul is the authority on this. He invented it. Paul says, "If your local restaurant serves blackened anything, ask them to stop. They are doing it wrong."

I use Prudonnes (sp) blackening seasoning, get my cast iron hot,hot, hot. Little olive oil and place the fish down gently. When the top of the fillet turns white, flip it. Should have a nice blackened crust. Doesn;t take but a few minutes. Blackened reds can't be beat.

salmon slayer said:

we catch Tuna locally and our favorite recipe for Tuna is:

1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup sherry
1/4 cup fresh minced ginger
2 tablespoon oyster sauce
2 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoon lemon juice
fresh pepper to taste

1" steaks marinate for 1 hr

grill on very hot bq for 1.5 minutes per side

(not blackened but very god and the sesame oil is fantastic)

Steve

Click to expand...

I got to try this. That sounds fantastic!

Sea salt and cayenne pepper fresh tuna keep it simple.:thumb:

The cajun part of me definitely says blacken. It is wild the transformation that happens under that intense heat. The flesh is so moist.

Seachaser--oh You made me hungry. Reds on the half shell, reds any way. I love that fish. I can't watch the tv fishing shows when they are fishing for them. They turn them loose and that seems insane to me.

I love blackedned fish but I think blackening would over power the tuna. I take tuna steaks and mairinate in bleu cheese dressing for about 20 minutes and then grill until medium rare. It is awesome.

Not blackened, and not quite a recipe, but here's what I do:

put about 1-2T grated ginger (I use a microplane) mixed with a good amount of soy sauce and a bit of rice vinegar, mirin or sake, and sesame oil and marinate the tuna steaks for 30 minutes.

while they're marinating crush some black pepper with a rolling pin in a ziploc (you want BIG chunks of pepper) and mix it with a bunch of sesame seeds (about equal parts of each).

when the tuna is done marinating press the sesame seed/pepper mixture into both sides so they're completely coated and put the steaks in the freezer for 30 minutes.

heat a cast iron pan with some peanut oil until it starts to smoke, and cook the steaks, making sure not to crowd the pan at all, until you they're cooked about 1/4" through on each side. You should be able to judge this somewhat by looking at the side of the steaks, but it's only about 30-60 seconds per side.I usually cook one steak at a time and there's no rush since you're not really going for steaming hot on the plate anyway.

slice the steaks thin (about 1/4") and serve with rice (i use short-grained sushi rice). I usually mix the leftover pepper/sesame mixture into the remaining marinade and use that as sauce with the tuna.

I haven't made this in a while, I think I'm drooling a bit thinking about it...