Chef John, Big fan! thanks for sharing so much of your knowledge! Far be it from me to tell you how to cook, but next time, if you're thawing the fish anyway, try giving it a sear while the inside is still a bit icy! You can crank the heat a little more and get a bit of a hard sear/crust on the outside, while keeping the inside raw. gotta pat dry before searing, of course. also, you've probably had it, but furikake seasoning in place of the sesame seeds are great here too!
This is a tricky technique to pull off. I've attempted this before and stupidly decided to use a stainless steel skillet so I could turn the heat higher, and then neglected to actually turn the heat high enough. By the time I had a decent crust, the inside was almost entirely cooked, and then when I tried to remove the tuna from the pan it stuck and ripped all of the crust off. A cascade of errors on my part, I know. Chef John's method seems a bit more idiot-proof, since it's just a nonstick over medium.
@@danielleanderson6371 You're totally, right, i've done that before too. For Chef John's purposes (a cooking tutorial video) it's definitely better to play it safe, since he's still getting the raw inside and toasted sesame on the outside. good point!
I really appreciate the way you plated this. It's a solid sashimi presentation. The fish is allowed to stand alone and catch your attention, so the first thing you see is the quality of the cut. The spinach is playing a supporting role and not inhibiting the impression of the sashimi. Real good job. Japanese cuisine is a favorite subject of mine, and I so frequently see western cooks misunderstand or completely neglect the fundamental ideas behind it, getting it disastrously and almost insultingly wrong. For a truly atrocious example, look at the sashimi that Wolfgang Puck did in his Masterclass. By the time he's done covering it in nonsense you can barely see the salmon, like it's got something to hide. When you do any raw cut of fish you want to show pride in the quality of the ingredient itself and let it speak for itself. That's the most important thing, and all the skill and prep you see from sushi chefs is there to elevate that impression. I'm glad you've managed to capture that, despite your forewarnings about it not being strictly authentic. Don't sell yourself short.
I was totally expecting some ginger, sesame oil, and seasoned rice vinegar in that dressing, but the sesame seeds, soy, mirin, and sugar look TOTALLY better. I can't wait to try it.
My god, Chef John is such an absolute master. Compare a simple video like this to one of Joshua Weissman's fancier sexier videos for example, Joshua is just brilliant but with Chef John you can literally see the vast experience he has in everything he makes. How effortless yet delicious he makes it look.
I have to say that I don't really like Joshua Weissman's videos. Don't get me wrong, I know he is a great cook and I have made recipes from his videos, but i prefer 9 times out of 10 Chef John's videos. They are very focused on the techique rather than the show, also his videos are more explicit in the steps and alternatives.
Chef John has a lot of experience, yes, but it’s also important to note he’s taught at culinary schools for a long time. So, he’s an educator by trade & it comes naturally to him. I think Chef John’s videos deliver the best educational material for the home cook pound for pound, which shouldn’t be too surprising given his professional background in the industry.
The way ive always done it in restaurants is getting a sizzle plater screaming hot on a gas burner adding veg oil right before the tuna goes in. I feel like you get better color while still keeping a thin sear. I also mix white/black seeds. I like the tuxedo look. When coating the fish i tend to just put the seeds in a container or bag and place the fish inside to give a much more even covered coating.
@@TheNeighborNicky Оh my, thanks for the tip! Next time would definitely try it. At least i have salted butter for my toast, so will put it into use faster :D
I remember reading NYC health department required deep freezing of most sashimi grade fish. You have to go below -4 degrees to begin to kill parasites, I don’t think standard home freezers go that low.
If you cannot find mirin a couple of splashes of sake (my go to is Gekkeikan for cooking) will work. My favorite sushi bar makes this tuna but garlic instead of sesame and they sear it just slightly more. It's from heaven on a bed of warm rice with flying fish roe.
@@mahna_mahna Here in Germany, you usually find sake not only in the Asia-section of the supermarket, but also in the alcohol-section. So, if the supermarket doesn't have an Asia-section, you'd probably only find sake there and no mirin.
•💟• This looks so tempting & tantelizing. Congratulations on your new home & dreams coming true. Thank you for all your work, kindness & contributions to YT. •💟•
@ Passion for food , my wife is a good cook also, I'll just show her this video recipe, & say AH-HE made ME-SO hungry & then just say open Sesame & it will appear on my plate
I usually don't really add sugar to the Goma-ae. I know you're supposed to, but depending on how sweet your mirin is, it's not necessary. if you don't have mirin, you will need some sugar though.
@@JessHull I did! I love tataki, be it beef, tuna, what have you. As far as the salad, I usually go for seaweed and had never had spinach like this before. I gotta say they were both delicious and I will be making this regularly.
Chef John. Thank you. I made this Ahi Tuna, Spinach Salad for dinner tonight for myself and my wife. I have to report that it was outstanding. Nothing short of delightful. Again, thanks.
Thank you so much for your videos - thanks to you our Sundays turned into celebrations, with Turkish eggs in the center :) I wanted to ask if there's a chance for a chinkali video?
Loving the idea for the spinach salad! It looks delicious! I get Ahi Tuna on sale all the time, but I never bother to sear it, I just slice it and eat it.
The term “sushi grade” typically refers to fish that has been frozen. It is generally deemed as safer, although some toxicologists have pointed out that people eat both fresh and salt water fish raw or raw-marinaded quite frequently with little issue. As long as the fish comes out of a decently clean body of water, and not the LA river.
Yeah, except almost nothing you said is accurate. You completely ignored the fact that freezing it is a form of sterilization. Most parasites cant survive being frozen, so frozen fish is radically safer than fresh in all cases. Also, the cleanliness of the body of water doesnt really matter, or more accurately the ocean is pretty much the same once you get away from the coast. Parasites are what you are afraid of, not pollution. Tuna isnt a fresh water fish, so youre not pulling it out of a river anyway. The only part you got right is the fact that sushi grade is almost always frozen, but that is for a very good reason. As far as I can tell youre just talking out of your ass.
Additionally, the "fresh" fish you get from the supermarket has often been frozen for transport and then thawed, so the frozen stuff ends up being fresher anyway.
@@HyperIonMake I didn’t ignore the fact that freezing a fish is a form of sterilization. Matter of fact, the fish that I cure is typically frozen or is frozen by me, although it was likely frozen previo usly as you may have mentioned. Curing is another form that I’ve used, although that is primarily for texture and flavor of the fish. Lox being a great example. There certainly are fish that are safer and fish that are less safe. For example halibut has tons of worms specifically up front and near the belly. You can see them. Pollution certainly does play a role for fresh water fish. I know several people who are both fisherman, and PhDs in biology or toxicology or ecology and most of them are awfully ok with eating fresh and salt water fish because there’s not really a huge issue with it. Not just things like tuna, but fresh water salmon (Kokanee) as well as several types of Alaskan salmon, trout; walleye, northern, etc. often times with little other than some salt, oil, or soy sauce.
My favorite sushi place does this but instead of plain sesame seeds, they mix sesame with “shichimi togarashi” (?) which is like a mix of chili peppers and citrus. An absolutely amazing pairing with fish!
That looks delicious. I love to do a version where I marinate the tuna with soy sauce for a little while, take it out and roll it in (lots of) grounded cinnamon and after that in mixed sesame seeds. I fry it short but with higher temperature. It's served with some mango chutney. First I was afraid of the cinnamon, but it adds a lot without tasting like x-mas ☺. But I'll definitely do Chef John's version next time 😃.
You have to be the single best chef Ive watched a recipe for, straight to the point, good sense of humor and realistic about what your viewers can get in terms of ingredients
Seared tuna with sesame is great! My wife and I have it about once a month. I like a hotter pan to take it deeper into the maillard zone. I learned from you today to cook the baby spinach in a dry pan. I’m looking forward to trying it. Yesterday I made your baklava recipe...OMG! That was better than any baklava I’ve every bought on the streets when I lived in a small town outside of Istanbul.
Just so everyone knows, it is GOOD if your fish has been previously frozen and then thawed. That's what sushi grade means; since you can't cook it to kill pathogens and parasites, it's frozen to a temperature that most pathogens and parasites die at. If you are eating sushi that hasn't been frozen, you might have a problem
35% of fish have parasites that can survive everything but freezing so yeah, don't eat fish that hasn't been frozen unless you want to risk parasites that can survive cooking.
Hard to find fish that hasn’t been frozen, unless you pick it up from a fish market or catch it yourself. Even the fish market one will be frozen if not sold same day as it comes in
It's sushi-grade tuna and is eaten and served RAW all around the World. Re-watch Chef John's vid. He specifically stated Sushi-Grade TUNA, meaning that it can be safely consumed by humans in its raw form. Ditto salmon, some crustaceans, raw oysters on the half shell, sushi, sashimi, etc. My Caucasion mom was raised in Tachekawa Japan. They have the greatest number of Centaurians (those that live to be over 100 years old) per capita in the World for many years running. Need further convincing? Google: Diaries of a Master Sushi Chef Hiroyuki Terada. Guinness Book of World Records holder for most slices of a carrot while BLINDFOLDED. GR was there. CAUTION!: If it says GRAPHIC, leave the gag reflex out the door and put your Student Chef hat on. No lol. Thank you, Chef John, for your vlogs and just being you!! You stretch people to explore their 10,000+ tastebuds that are in our mouths, in your own unique, wonderful way. To the naysayers? Kick it up, and explore the wonderful World of food. Chef John does it so well. 👏👏 ⚘🙏❤🙏⚘ 👏👏
Serious question, how is it safe to eat raw tuna? Most proteins, including fish, need to cook to make sure any and all bacteria are killed. Plus, isn't the texture really chewy and weird since it's not cooked? A serious question from someone who's never eaten sushi or raw tuna before. Thanks
I don't think I could ever manage to make this. I'd unwrap that tuna, pause a moment, my mouth would water, then I'd look at the pan and think, "Why bother getting a pan dirty?" Then I'd just eat the tuna, lol.
Doesnt it usually using really high heat?, and made the outside looked charred and fully cook, but the inside is raw. The one dish that happen because one time in Japan, they try to ban consume raw fish,, but the people still want it raw, so they did this
Awesome! I also made Seared Ahi (with Asparagus) this past Sunday on my Cook Along Live show. Such a delicious dish!! Congrats on the move my friend! Hope all is well. :-)
Bah, and I remember him telling us during the croissant and French baguette episodes to always wait for it to cool no matter how hungry we are. I said nay. I am the Joan Jett of my baguette. 😜
Unfortunately, this is one recipe I won't be trying. I don't mind the idea of eating raw fish. I just can't stand the TEXTURE of it... But I have serious issues with textures...
At the restaurant where I previously worked, we would sear the tuna first, allow it cool, brush it with sesame oil, roll it in toasted sesame seeds and wrap it in cling film to adhere more seeds to the tuna. I think we also put wasabi paste and lime juice into our miso mayo for sweetness and a little bit of heat.
OMG...The David Lee Roth if your tuna is goth! I used your inspiration with a new rhyme for some BBQ I made today: You are after all the boss of your BBQ sauce!
Anyway I don't think I've ever came across fish that had not been flash frozen in any markets, they're almost always unfrozen on the "fresh" display, so better buy frozen, it's probably fresher. And you should always use fish that has been frozen for raw eating as it kills parasites (if cold enough)
dear chef john. I am not sure if you're reading this since you're bombed with commends daily (@ least I think so) nevertheless there's one thing you need to try next time when you do this dish. add some of the white miso (deluted with water!) on the tuna bevor you ad the seasme. the miso is just a bit caramalising while you sear the filet. Thank you for videos, you're a mentor to me for quite while now! Was there never ever a wish for how to make "Wiener Schnitzel"? Stay safe and healthy
