Seared tuna loin with a fennel salad recipe

Details

• Cuisine: English
• Recipe Type: Main
• Difficulty: Easy
• Preparation Time: 15 mins
• Cooking Time: 5 mins
• Serves: 6

Step-by-step

1. For the vinaigrette: peel and roughly chop the garlic cloves. Remove the outer layers of the lemongrass and finely slice. Place the lemongrass, garlic and sugar into a pestle and mortar and pound until you have a smooth paste. Add the soy sauce and the juice from the limes. Mix together and adjust with more sugar if necessary. Keep to one side.
2. For the salad: cut the fennel in half and remove the tough core. Slice the fennel on a mandolin.
3. Peel the cucumber. Cut in half lengthways and remove the seeds with a spoon. Cut the cucumber into thin batons. Peel and finely slice the shallots. Remove the stalks form the radishes and cut into quarters.
4. Cut the red chilli in half and remove the seeds. Finely slice. Peel the ginger and cut into very small dice. Pick the leaves from the mint and the coriander and keep the leaves whole. Place them in iced water to keep them fresh. Roughly chop the peanuts.
5. For the tuna: heat a griddle pan until very hot. Rub the tuna loin with the olive oil and season with Maldon sea salt and lots of ground black pepper.
6. Cook the tuna loin on all sides for 30 seconds. Remove from the heat.
7. To serve: mix together the salad ingredients and dress with half of the vinaigrette. Fold through half of the mint and coriander leaves last. Place a nest pile of the salad in the centre of the plate. Cut the tuna loin into thin slices and season each slice with a pinch of Maldon sea salt.
8. Place the tuna slices on top of the salad and finish the plate with a drizzle of the remaining dressing and a few mint and coriander leaves. Serve with a wedge of lime.