Grilled Tuna Steaks

It’s hard to think of a simpler, fresher and more bursting-with-flavor dish than Grilled Tuna Steaks served with an umami-loaded sesame soy dipping sauce! I grill ahi tuna over high heat, creating a rare center and beautiful grill marks, just like you see in upscale restaurants. As home cooks, we may feel a little intimidated to serve fish rare, assuming that only restaurant chefs can master this technique, but it’s surprisingly easy and fast.

The sesame soy dipping sauce with pleasantly spicy fresh ginger doubles as a marinade, saving you a few steps. All you need are a few simple ingredients and a couple of high-quality tuna steaks, ideally yellowfin tuna (often marketed as ahi tuna). However, this recipe works equally well with other types of tuna, such as: bluefin, bonito/skipjack, bigeye or albacore.

Ingredients to make Grilled Tuna Steaks

• Fresh Tuna Steaks: Yellowfin/ahi, bluefin, bigeye, skipjack or albacore work, although albacore is a little drier. Frozen tuna can be as high-quality as fresh if you can’t easily get fresh.
• Soy Sauce: Regular or low sodium soy sauce. Here is my favorite brand!
• Unseasoned Rice Vinegar: Be sure to use unseasoned rice vinegar, not the seasoned version that contains added sugar and salt.
• Honey: Your favorite variety.
• Green Onion: Look for a smooth, firm, bright green onion.
• Toasted Sesame Oil: While plain sesame oil has very little color or flavor, toasted sesame oil has a deep amber color and a nutty, toasty aroma and flavor.
• Fresh Ginger: Look for a plump fresh ginger hand with smooth, shiny skin.
• Garlic: Fresh garlic bulbs should be plump and firm with smooth, silvery skin.
• Olive Oil: Use whatever variety you have on hand – extra virgin olive oil isn’t essential here.
• Kosher Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Is your tuna steak ok to serve rare or raw?

You might be concerned about serving raw or rare tuna at home, not knowing if it’s fresh enough. It’s an important concern and one that isn’t regulated by the FDA, despite grocery store signage claiming ‘sushi grade’ or ‘sashimi grade’ (here is a great article if you want to read about this in-depth). However, you can find fresh, high-quality fish to serve at home, and it’s easier than you might think. It’s key to buy from a reputable fishmonger and here are some things to look for:

• Deeply red or pink tuna steaks (not brown) that are moist, shiny, and nearly translucent, particularly if you plan to serve it rare or raw (as in this Tuna Tartare or Ahi Tuna Salad). Avoid tuna with discoloration, or that looks soft and mushy.
• Tuna steaks should smell of fresh sea-air; avoid those with a fishy odor.
• If you don’t live near a coast where fresh fish is readily available, frozen tuna can work just as well, provided the tuna was frozen immediately in an industrial flash freezer onboard the fishing boat.

This restaurant-quality Grilled Tuna Steaks recipe works for both busy weeknights since it’s so easy and requires minimal prep work, but is impressive enough to serve guests! If you want to serve a simple Asian-themed meal, Grilled Bok Choy or Chinese Cucumber Salad and steamed rice are the perfect accompaniments.

How to Grill Tuna Steaks

Step 1: Whisk together dipping sauce ingredients (soy sauce, rice vinegar, honey, sesame oil, ginger, and garlic).

Step 2: Preheat grill to high. Rinse and dry tuna steaks then rub all sides with oil and season with salt and pepper.

Step 3: Grill tuna steaks until seared on the outside and rare in the middle, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to cutting board and thinly slice tuna across the grain.