Salad

Seared Ahi Tuna Lettuce Cups

Fresh seared ahi tuna is sliced and served in butter lettuce leaves with brown rice, crispy vegetables and topped with an orange teriyaki sauce.

To recipe
Sashimi grade seared ahi tuna with brown rice, daikon radish, carrots and topped with some homemade orange teriyaki sauce
Recipe insights & TIPS

And with one swoop of Mr Time, the weekend was gone! Did you accomplish major plans or maybe you just relaxed and tried to regain some sanity for Monday? Me...I ate ahi tuna and it was delicious!

Sashimi grade seared ahi tuna with brown rice, daikon radish, carrots and topped with some homemade orange teriyaki sauce

This recipe seems a little tricky but I wouldn't try to pull a fast one on you guys. It's easy, healthy and the hardest part is the prep. Once you have all of the toppings sliced and ready to go, then you can focus solely on cooking the ahi tuna because you really don't want to overcook it. Give it your maximum attention.

Try and buy the tuna fresh and not packaged although even that can be okay, I like to use the color as my guide. The older the ahi tuna gets, the darker it will look. A good fresh piece will look bright and crimson in color.

Sashimi grade seared ahi tuna with brown rice, daikon radish, carrots and topped with some homemade orange teriyaki sauce

The fish doesn't need much love, rub it with some olive oil and season with salt and pepper. If you can't buy toasted sesame seeds, then toast your own by simply adding them to a pan and cooking over a medium heat making sure to move them around, they burn fast so be careful.

Roll the tuna in the seeds and then comes the fun part. Cook that fish for about two minutes on each side. I like to watch the side of the tuna, that's where you'll see the how deep into tuna the heat is penetrating and you can use that as a guide to how rare you prefer to have it.

Sashimi grade seared ahi tuna with brown rice, daikon radish, carrots and topped with some homemade orange teriyaki sauce

You can see from this photograph that I like my tuna on the rare side with that crunchy sesame crust around the edges. Once the ahi tuna is cooked, let it rest.

Each lettuce cup is filled with so many great flavors and once you take a bite, you just know that what you're eating is healthy and fresh.

Crunchy vegetables and cashews, savory onion and a some sweetness from the orange teriyaki sauce makes these easy to shovel into your mouth.

I ate three and could have squeezed in a few more.

Sashimi grade seared ahi tuna with brown rice, daikon radish, carrots and topped with some homemade orange teriyaki sauce

A white, fluffy chef's hat with an orange band, logo of Foodness Gracious.

Recipe

Leaves of butter lettuce are filled with healthy brown rice, daikon radish, carrots and slices of fresh seared ahi tuna. Topped off with a drizzle of orange teriyaki sauce.

Course:
Salad
COOKing TIME:
4 minutes
Total TIME:
34 minutes
CUISINE:
Asian
PREP TIME:
30 minutes
SERVINGS:
6

Ingredients

FOR THE TERIYAKI SAUCE

  • 1/2 cup soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 2 tablespoons brown rice vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 tablespoon orange juice
  • 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • pound Half a of sashimi grade ahi tuna
  • 3 tablespoon olive oil divided
  • Salt and black pepper
  • 1/2 cup toasted sesame seeds
  • Butter lettuce
  • 3 cups brown rice cooked and cooled
  • 1 piece of daikon radish about 4 inches long cut into thin strips
  • 1 carrot cut into thin strips
  • 2 green onions thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup chopped salted cashew nuts

Ingredient Swaps

Instructions

  1. Make the sauce by combining the soy sauce, water, vinegar, sugar, garlic and orange.
  2. Bring to a simmer and whisk until the sugar is dissolved.
  3. Mix the cornstarch and water together then add to the sauce.
  4. Bring to a boil and whisk until it thickens slightly. Set aside.
  5. Rub the tuna with one tablespoon of olive oil and season with salt and pepper
  6. Roll in the sesame seeds to completely cover.
  7. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a non-stick pan until hot.
  8. Place the tuna in the pan and sear on one side for about two minutes.
  9. Flip the tuna over and cook for a further two minutes. This should be enough to still have the tuna be rare in the center.
  10. Let the tuna rest.
  11. Pick out some nice butter lettuce leaves and place on a serving platter, about 8
  12. Place a heaped tablespoon of brown rice onto the lettuce.
  13. Slice the tuna into thin strips about 4 inches long and place one piece on top of each pile of rice.
  14. Top each piece of tuna with some daikon and carrot strips.
  15. Sprinkle each lettuce cup with some chopped green onion and cashew nuts.
  16. Lastly, drizzle some of the orange teriyaki sauce over each lettuce cup and serve immediately.

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