Strictly Suppers #5 Cha-Cha-Char Grilled Tuna in a Soy, Honey, Chilli and Lime Sauce with Asda Mashed Potatoes
Good morning all, how is everyone? It’s almost December the 1st so I’ve now started singing Christmas songs and thinking about what I’m going to be cooking over Christmas, especially Boxing night. One thing is for sure, I know Adam, Heather and I wont be in the kitchen as long as we were last year and I know Heather wont be doing the dishes for six months 😆
Once again sorry this is later than planned but I’ve had a hectic weekend again and time ran away from me. This is my own recipe, it’s easy, tasty and can be cooked in less than 40 minutes. The theme for this week’s dance is the Cha-Cha-Cha and is a mash up of last year’s theme’s. We’ve not had great success in the Cha-Cha-Cha style this year with lots of competitors ranking it as their lowest Dace. The highest score for a Cha-Cha-Cha this year is Peter Andre (30) and the lowest is good old Iwan Thomas (13).
The ingredients are simple for this one, there is an addition of chilli flakes which are not featured in the photograph above. The Tuna Steaks were lovely, a bit small but they were decent quality.
There wasn’t much equipment used in this recipe, it’s all in the photograph above. The little mug on the left is a Christmas present from Heather last year; it’s a measuring mug and is so handy because it’s easier than lugging a great big jug around.
The first thing we need to do is create the marinade, I used 300ml of Dark Soy Sauce as I was marinating two tuna steaks, measure that out.
Once I did that I added 2 Tbs of Honey to the Soy Sauce and stirred it through so that it all mixed. Next you need to add the chilli
This is chilli I’ve had in the cupboard since Adam was a boy, it’s probably not safe to use, but I won’t say anything if you don’t! You can use chilli powder or a fresh chilli, or you can substitute it for Garlic and Ginger if you wanted to, it’s your choice.
Stir the chilli thoroughly to ensure all the ingredients have combined then add the lime juice, I used 2 Tbs, like with all the ingredients you can use as much or as little as you like.
Marinate the Tuna in the sauce for 10 – 20 minutes; you don’t want to do it for too long otherwise the lime will start to cook the fish.
Once the fish is marinated pour the sauce into a saucepan and warm through. You’ve got a couple of options here, you can reduce it so that it becomes a glaze, a nice sticky syrupy sauce to go over the tuna… that’s what I would have liked to do. I’d have liked to do some chefy drizzles and swirls just to ponse the plate up a bit… but no! Being the pillock that I am 😳 didn’t have time to reduce the sauce to a glaze consistency so ended up having it as a rather runny sauce. I’m not complaining it was really tasty but, not as I planned it. Turn the heat on to high under the griddle pan.
When the griddle pan is piping hot add the fish, make sure that there is some marinade on them so they won’t stick. Cook them for two minutes on each side, or more if you like your fish well cooked.
I served this with Snack Pot Mashed Potatoes from Asda… wow! This was a find, the mash is creamy and tasty, with crisp almost crouton like onions going through it. I had this when my parents went away one night and I’m hooked, it’s really worth trying. Cook this as per the instructions, I almost guarantee you won’t be disappointed!
When the fish is cooked to your liking take it off the heat, otherwise it’ll carry on cooking. I like it pink in the middle, there’s nothing worse than overcooked Tuna, it goes like old shoe leather in texture. I’m not one of these people who says oh you should have it cooked like this, cook it as you like it, but if you don’t know how you like it, give it a chance a bit pink in the middle, you won’t regret it. I suppose the only thing I’d say is if you are eating frozen tuna that’s 10 for £5 it’s probably best to cook that all the way through but fresh tuna you can eat a bit pink in the middle and often fish monger tuna is Sushi grade, which means you can eat it raw.
Serve with the potatoes and the sauce, honestly this is lush. The sauce is salty, spicy but with the tang of the lime and the sweetness of the honey. The mashed potatoes are creamy and rich with the crunch of the onions going through them and the Tuna is the icing on the cake. Give this a go there is so much you can do to it, you could add spring onions to the sauce or ginger and garlic. Have a play that’s what cooking’s all about!
Remember you can download my step-by-step instructions here, if you give it a go send in your pictures – I’d love to see them.
I cooked this recipe with my mother and my Aunty Doll watching me, my Aunty Doll isn’t the most adventurous when it comes to food, she’s like my father! She keeps telling me how much my uncle would like my cooking, he’s a lot more adventurous (like my mother) so I’m going to have to cook for him one day. Aunty Doll is a bit of a legend in my family, and while I love all my aunties and uncles equally I think everyone would agree Aunty Doll is awesome, saying that mind I don’t live with her 😆 ! Thanks to my mother Mags and Aunty Doll for their help!
Next week I’m hoping to give you something sweet for our sixth installment of our Strictly Suppers range. I’m hoping it will be based on the Viennese Waltz… what do you think it’ll be?
I said I was back to normal last week, well I’m still a bit out on my timings but I’m getting there. My new business W38 Media is taking a lot of time (cheap plug I know) as well as my first business Accessible Wales (another shameless plug) Tuesday we’ve got a review of Uncle Ben’s Chilli Con Carne and Rice Snack Pot and Dolmio’s Pasta Carbonara…. it’s one not to be missed.
I’m looking for a mystery bag, ideally I’d like one before Christmas, any suggestions, if you do please get in touch (see the picture above).
Don’t forget get in touch, I’d love to hear from you using the methods above. Send in your thoughts, pictures, ideas – just basically get in touch, I’d love to hear from you. I hope you enjoyed strictly, I am more disappointed this week with the Elimination, I haven’t seen it, only read the results so perhaps I can tell you more tomorrow!
See you tomorrow
