Try nachos with tuna

Libby Hill crowd comes up with a winner

We’ve made it to May, and the spring weather has settled in and been pretty nice for a while. The temperatures have been warm most of the time since March, but sometimes the wind has blown hard enough that fishing really hasn’t been an option. Finally though, the wind is staying lighter as the weather settles into a pattern of warm days and cool nights.

Three things are on sportsmens’ minds at this time of year, and the two we can freely talk about are turkey hunting and offshore fishing. Turkey season runs into May in the Carolinas, and some hunters take chasing late-season gobblers as a personal challenge and go at it until the last day. Then, they hardly pause before getting the boat ready to head offshore after the big, pelagic fish swimming past the coast.

As much as they enjoy matching wits with wary gobblers, many consider this the time to be heading offshore. Wahoo have been roaming the edges of  Gulf Stream temperature breaks and color changes for a while; tuna and dolphin arrived several weeks ago, and fishermen are returning with full fish boxes rather than a few fish and a couple of stories of the one that got away.

No one who likes fish turns his nose up at dolphin, but there is something special about catching your own tuna, especially yellowfin tuna. Hopefully this is the year the yellowfin move back across the Gulf Stream to the nearshore side, but only time will tell. It won’t take much time to tell that yellowfin tuna are perfect for this month’s recipe of tuna nachos. It tastes pretty good made with blackfin and should be good with other tunas, but it’s custom-made for yellowfin. If you try this recipe, you’ll be chasing yellowfins a lot. Unfortunately, they can be fickle, and it’s always wise to save a couple of 20s for the fish market — just in case.

This month’s recipe comes from The Oyster Bar at Libby Hill Seafood in Greensboro, N.C. The members of the Conrad family that operates the popular Libby Hill chain across North Carolina’s Piedmont are avid fishermen and love to cook. We’ve featured recipes from several of them over the years. A little more than a year ago, they added an oyster bar to their flagship restaurant, and it was readily accepted by the locals.

One of the reasons is the variety of menu items. They are always looking for new things, and their tuna nachos hit the ground running this past winter and haven’t let up yet. They are simple and tasty and just the right thing to eat on the patio on a pleasant May evening. They were gracious enough to share the recipe, and I recommend trying it.

Tuna nachos

I like tuna — all kinds of tuna — and I like it prepared a multitude of ways, from raw and chilled to pan-seared, even added to a green salad. I’ve had a bunch of different foods added to nachos, and some were good and some, well, not quite so good. When the folks at the Oyster Bar at Libby Hill posted their first Facebook picture of tuna nachos, I was sure it was a winner, and once I tasted it, that was confirmed. I asked if they would share the recipe, because not everyone lives close enough to Greensboro to try theirs, and they graciously obliged.

My first experience with tuna nachos was during the Central Carolina Boat and Fishing Expo at the end of February. Justin Conrad, president of the restaurant chain, is a fishing buddy, and after setting up the night before the show, I met him for dinner and to try their tuna nachos. Manager, J.T. Puckett said they originally planned to introduce tuna nachos as a Wednesday night special, but they were so well-accepted, their customers were asking for them on other nights. I understand; I had them again two nights later. They are now a staple on the menu.

It only took a taste to understand why their customers liked tuna nachos. The presentation is colorful and attractive, and that usually bodes well. The combination of the lightly salted nacho chips with tuna seared just right, tomatoes, green onions and a light wasabi ranch dressing drizzled on them was everything I expected. I also tried the ponzu sauce, but the wasabi ranch was the sauce for me. I asked for the recipe about 10 bites in. However, you regular readers know my nature includes experimenting a little.

Yellowfin tuna aren’t as readily caught as they once were. Several years ago, they shifted their migration to the east side of the Gulf Stream. Since then, I have adapted many tuna recipes to use the blackfins that are more plentiful in my catch. This recipe works with blackfin tuna, which are white-meat tunas, but there is something about the redder meat of yellowfin that makes this a little better.

I’m looking forward to trying this with Atlantic bonito. They should arrive off the coast this month, and I like them in many dishes in which I used to use yellowfins and am looking forward to trying them here.

The original Oyster Bar recipe is below. I only really made two changes, and both are a matter of personal taste.

My first change was to substitute Ro-Tel diced tomatoes with green chilies for the diced tomatoes. The original and mild versions add a little to the taste and those who really want to kick it up a notch can use the spicier version with habanero peppers. I think the Mexican style with lime juice and cilantro would be good too, but haven’t tried it — yet.

The other thing I did was add a little more wasabi to the wasabi ranch dressing. The restaurant version is pretty mild, so it doesn’t overpower subtle palates, but they will bring you more wasabi if you ask. At home you can liven it up to your personal tastes from the beginning.

Tuna nachos are tasty and fun to eat. I believe if you try it, you’ll eat it again. It’s excellent  as an appetizer, but I like it even better as a meal. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS:

8 oz. yellowfin tuna, cut into thick steaks

6  5-inch fried or baked corn tortillas, cut into wedges, 6 per tortilla. Nacho chips may also be purchased.

3/4 cup diced tomatoes

4 green onions, sliced very thin

Olive oil

1 tbsp toasted Sesame Seeds for garnish

2 wedges of lime.

Sesame seed coating

1/2 cup white sesame seeds

1/2 cup black sesame seeds

1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper

1 tsp salt

Wasabi ranch dressing

2 tsp Wasabi powder

3/4 cup ranch dressing

Warm water

Ponzu sauce

1/2 cup light soy sauce

1/2 cup rice wine vinegar

1 tsp Ginger puree

1 green onion

1/4 tsp black pepper

PREPARATION:

For the sesame seed coating, stir white sesame seeds, black sesame seeds, 1 tsp. of coarsely ground black pepper and 1 tsp. of salt together to combine.

For the Wasabi ranch dressing, put 2 tsp Wasabi powder in a small bowl, whisk in warm water, one drop at a time, until powder becomes a thick paste. If you don’t want to mix your own, prepared Wasabi paste can be purchased. Whisk the ranch dressing with the Wasabi paste. Add a small amount of the Wasabi paste at a time to taste. This will steep and become stronger as it sits. It can be made in advance and will keep for a week or so refrigerated.

For the Ponzu sauce, slice 1 green onion very thin. Whisk together soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, ginger puree, 1/4 tsp black pepper, and the finely sliced green onion. This can be made in advance and will keep for up to two to three weeks refrigerated.

For the tuna and nachos, place tuna on a plate and rub with olive oil. Liberally press sesame seed coating onto both sides of the tuna. Sear the tuna on a hot grill or cast iron skillet, being very careful not to overcook it. This will only take a couple of minutes, depending on the thickness of the tuna. Watch the side of the tuna as it cooks, making sure it only cooks enough to have a thin grey-white edge on each side. If the grill or pan is hot, this only takes approximately a minute. Keep the middle of the tuna steak red. Only turn the tuna once. Remove from heat and set aside. Place the nachos on a large plate or small platter in one layer. Cut the tuna into bite-sized chunks and sprinkle evenly over the nachos. Top the tuna and nachos with a layer of tomatoes and green onions. Drizzle a little of the Wasabi ranch dressing over the top. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds. Serve immediately with the Ponzu sauce and the remaining Wasabi ranch on the side along with a wedge or two of lime.

The Oyster Bar at Libby Hill began serving this as an appetizer for up to four, and it works well that way. However, I prefer it best as an entree. It isn’t quite a complete meal, but a garden salad or lettuce wedge is all it needs to be an excellent light springtime meal. I can see splitting it two ways, but part of the fun of eating this is using your fingers, and that might should only be shared between couples, relatives or really close friends. It might even be light enough to add dessert and that should be light too, like flan or cinnamon bread pudding with just a light drizzle of chocolate.