Seared Ahi

By: Ann Hazard

An angler friend of ours named Leigh gave me his famous recipe for seared ahi. Served very, very rare, it’s important that the fish is prepped as in the Sashimi recipe above. The addition of the seared asparagus spears and the ginger-sesame crust on the fish makes this dish unique and the Wasabe cream sauce will get you serious raves. Serves four as appetizers or two for dinner.

16 asparagus spears
½ cup water
4 – 3 ounce appetizer portions of Sashimi grade (see above) yellowfin tuna cut to resemble a small brick
Salt and cracked black pepper to taste
3 tbsp olive oil
½ cup toasted sesame seeds
1 tsp fresh ginger root, grated
1 tbsp fresh basil, crushed
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp powdered Wasabe mixed with ¾ cup heavy cream

Blanch asparagus in boiling water for one minute. Remove. Season tuna with salt and cracked pepper. In medium bowl, mix sesame seeds, ginger and basil. Roll each piece of tuna in this mixture, coating lightly.

Heat a heavy skillet until very hot. Pour in olive oil and immediately add each piece fish. Sear each piece for about 45 seconds to a minute on each side, depending on thickness. At the same time, put butter and remaining olive oil into a second skillet and heat until very hot. Place asparagus spears into hot skillet and sear for about a minute.

Remove both ahi and asparagus and serve immediately on a platter with four spears arranged around a portion of seared tuna. Add a big scoop of jasmine rice if desired

These recipes are from Ann Hazard's fourth book, Cooking With Baja Magic Dos. A must have for all Baja Aficionados! All 175 recipes from the original cookbook have been updated and improved. There are 80 new recipes and stories about Ann and Terry's adventures over the last eight years. The all-new art by Janna Kinkade, Gayle Hazard and Terry Hauswirth is pure magic. Look for new recipes from famous restaurants all over Baja; visit www.bajamagic.com.