Stephencooks

Tuna Crusted with Crushed Wasabi Peas
with Miso-Flavored Somen Noodles and Vineagared Cucumbers

Serves 4.

Tuna:
2 fresh tuna steaks, 1" thick (20 - 24 oz total)
5 oz wasabi peas
1 egg
1 C milk
1 C flour
salt
canola or other flavorless oil

Cut each steak in half. Wash and dry them well and then wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Place in the freezer for about 45 minutes. Whisk the egg and the milk together. Crush the peas with a mortar and pestle until they have the consistency of very coarse salt. Unwrap and roll each piece of tuna in the flour, then dip them in the egg/milk mixture and then roll them in the crushed peas. Place on a plate and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat a heavy cast-iron frying pan on low heat. After the resting-period is over, turn the heat to high and add about 3 tablespoons of oil to the pan. Allow to heat for about a minute and then add the fish pieces. With the heat on high, sauté the fish 1 minute on each side, including the edges. Serve immediately, accompanied by the dipping sauce (below). For diners using chopsticks the fish should be served sliced.

Dipping sauce:
Adapted from Shizuo Tsuji, Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art.
5 T saké
5 T mirin (Japanese sweet rice wine)
5 T soy sauce
1-1/2 T sugar
1 T butter
1 T scallion, finely minced

Combine the saké, mirin, soy sauce and sugar in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Maintain at a low boil for several minutes to thicken the sauce slightly, then stir in the butter. Serve in individual dipping bowls with a pinch of the scallions in each bowl.

Somen Noodles with Miso
8 oz somen noodles (fine wheat noodles)
4 T red miso
1 T butter
2 scallions, chopped fine
salt

Warm the miso and butter in a small saucepan and stir to combine. Boil the noodles in salted water until cooked.  Drain the noodles and toss with the miso mixture. Serve immediately, garnished with the scallions.

Vinegared Cucumbers
From Shizuo Tsuji, Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art.

6" seedless hothouse cucumber
salt
1 C rice vinegar
1 C dashi
4 T soy sauce
2 T sugar

Slice the cucumber into paper thin slices with a sharp kife or mandolin. (The Japanese traditionally do not eat the peels of fruits or vegetables, so Tsuji calls for the cucumber to be peeled. I prefer to wash the cucumbers and leave the peels on, for visual reasons primarily.) Lay them out on a work surface and sprinkle with salt, then gather them up in your hands and knead them for about a minute, squeezing moisture from the cucumber. Without rinsing, place in a bowl.

Place the vinegar, dashi, soy sauce and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Immediately force cool the sauce in a metal bowl set in ice water.

To serve, pour half the sauce over the cucumbers, squeeze them with your hands and then pour off and discard the sauce. Pour the remaining sauce over the cucumbers and place mounds in small individual dishes.

Acccording to Tsuji, "this goes well with everything."