tuna marinated in soy on a warm noodle salad with coriander pesto

The inspiration behind this dish comes from my friend Julie Carter, who is the delightful fishmonger at the Neighbourgoods market at The Biscuit Mill. She is well known for selling the freshest available seafood and even more well known for her fresh tuna steak burger, and tuna on noodles which she sells every Saturday (subject to availability of course).

We were neighbours for a good few weeks when we traded The Smoking Shed products at the market, and I enjoyed the smells of her delicious fresh meals being made right next to me.

Coriander is the herb that makes this dish so I pondered the idea of using coriander pesto to intensify things. I wasn’t 100% sure as the pesto leans towards Italian, and all the other elements point towards Asian flavours.

I love raw and cooked textures and flavours in one meal, so I combined the cooked tuna and noodles with the raw spring onions, sprouts, peppers and fresh coriander.

What you need to make this dish: (adjust quantities as required)

• about 400gms of fresh yellowfin tuna cubed
• 2 blocks of egg noodles (enough for 2 generous portions)
• a few spring onions sliced
• 1/4 – 1/2 red or yellow pepper finely diced
• handful of fresh mung bean sprouts
• handful of fresh coriander
• 3 Tbs coriander pesto
• marinade: 3 Tbs soy sauce, small knob of grated fresh ginger, 1 clove of garlic crushed, pinch of dried chilli flakes

How to make:

• put the tuna cubes in a plastic ziploc bag and add all the marinade ingredients
• scrunch everything in the bag to coat the tuna and leave to marinate in the fridge for anywhere from 10 minutes to overnight
• boil the noodles in hot water according to the pack instructions and drain
• heat a wok or large frying and add some peanut or sesame oil and a splash of sunflower oil
• add the tuna pieces with the sauce from the bag and quickly stir fry until cooked (this take 3 – 4 minutes)
• place the warm noodles in a bowl and stir through the pesto
• add the spring onions, sprouts and pepper and mix it through
• top with the cooked tuna pieces, squeeze over some lemon or lime juice and garnish with fresh coriander

Julie Carter: oceanjewelsfish @ gmail.com if you want to join her mailing list, or find her at The Biscuit Mill market