This is one of Paul’s favorite sauces for both Ahi Tuna and Salmon.  It has Asian flavors with lots of fresh ginger.  Since fish thaws in no time, it’s quick and easy to prepare for any weeknight meal.  Last night we decided on the tuna for dinner and this is the sauce I made to go over it.

We get our Ahi Tuna from one of those membership clubs.  They come individually vacuum sealed and frozen in a bag.  So far it’s the best we’ve found.  Whether you use fresh or frozen, it’s one delicious meal!

If you are using frozen, as we did, leave them in their individual vacuum sealed packages and thaw in cool water to keep the fish from getting too warm on the outside and still frozen on the inside.  Just make sure the packaging won’t allow the water to seep in with the fish.  By the time you prep the sauce ingredients and make the sides, it will be thawed out.  I also use this method for many meats.  Fish is one of those meats that i fix last thing since it cooks quick and I want to serve it right away.  So, have your salad or vegetables ready before cooking the fish.

This recipe really makes enough for three or maybe even four tuna steaks depending on how much you want, but it was just the two of us and I made two steaks and had extra sauce for the rice.  So yummy!

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Here’s how I make it.

Pan Seared Ahi Tuna with Ginger Sauce

Pat the fish dry, then rub them with some fresh lemon juice and sprinkle a little sea salt on both sides.

Heat oil in a medium size skillet over medium-high heat.

Add tuna steaks to hot oil searing the first side about 2-3 minutes.  This all depends on how rare you like your steaks.

Flip them over and cook another couple of minutes.  Again, this depends on how rare you want your steaks.  The good thing about tuna steaks is you can actually watch how much pink is still in the middle.  We like ours like this picture.  Time to get them out!

Remove the tuna steaks and put them on a plate.  Cover with a piece of aluminum foil to keep them warm while we make this delicious sauce!

Oh, yummy!  We have pieces of the tuna in the pan.  This makes the sauce even better!

Turn the heat down to medium-low.  Add the diced scallions.  You can certainly us a small shallot, or sweet onion if you don’t happen to have any scallions on hand or what we always called green onions growing up.

Saute’ the onions for a minute or two until they are nice and tender.  Add the white wine.  You can use any white wine you like.  I also keep the good ole’ stand by bottle of white cooking wine in the cabinet.  It keeps a long time and doesn’t need refrigerating.  I used a Chablis in this one.  If cooking with wine isn’t your thing, you can certainly use some chicken broth instead.

Pour in the soy sauce.  You can use tamari sauce if you have that on hand.

So, what is the difference between soy sauce and tamari sauce?  Here’s the short answer.  Soy sauce is made from soy beans, some kind of wheat, water and salt.  Tamari is made from soy beans, water and salt which makes it gluten free.  If you’re on a gluten free diet, you should always use tamari sauce.  I have used both and there is one thing I have noticed about using tamari in this dish.  When this sauce is bubbling for a couple minutes to reduce, it tends to thicken better than traditional soy sauce.  Just my own observation here.

Add the fresh squeezed lemon juice.  Please, not the stuff in the bottle.  It just makes all the difference in the world!

Add the fresh ginger.  I use a zester to grate the ginger finely.  Just peel a piece of ginger first before grating it.  Another thing about fresh ginger is, it’s a bit potent.  So, you may want to start with a little less, taste it and add more to suit your taste buds.  We like ours pretty strong, so just fair warning!

Stir all of the ingredients and bring to a nice bubble for a couple minutes until it thickens a bit.  Here’s where I do notice the tamari thickening a bit better than soy sauce, but both will taste the same, so I wouldn’t make a special last minute trip to the store just for tamari unless you’re on a gluten free diet.

Turn off the burner to stop cooking the sauce.  Put tuna steaks back into the pan and cover with sauce.

You just want to warm the turn steaks lightly on both sides being careful not to cook them too much.  You will want to keep the steaks pink in the middle or they’ll have a strong “fishy” taste and loose their tenderness.

And there you have it!  It’s really quick and easy.  One key note here.  I do find in dishes like this, it’s important to do ALL the prep work first.  Have everything chopped, grated, juice ready and bottles sitting out next to the stove.  It just makes things go smoother.  Some recipes don’t matter so much, but this one does.

Served with rice and fresh steamed broccoli.

UPDATE:  This was my first post and since then I have completed a series of Asian dishes that you may be interested in.  Click on these links for the recipes!  Asian Salad with Marinated Beef Flank Steak, Asian Salad Dressing, Shrimp Fried Rice, Sesame Chicken, Beef with Broccoli and Snow Peas, Cashew Chicken, Lettuce Wraps and Thai Basil Chicken.

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Here is a printer friendly version of this recipe.  I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!