Tuna Steak Tartare
created by created by Challenger Shinya Tasaki (1995 World Champion Sommelier)
Battle Tuna
reverse-engineered by David J Rust

Ingredients:

Steps

1. Blend the water, salt and 2 cups of champagne in a pan big enough to accommodate the tuna steaks. Marinade the tuna in the liquid for 30 minutes. The tuna steaks should be long and only about an inch thick.

2. After marination, smoke the tuna over apple and cherry wood chips for 10 minutes. Use an indirect heating method and smoke at a relatively cool temperature.

3. Finely mince and chop the tuna or put it through a meat grinder. Place on a serving platter or individual, small plates for each diner.

4. Mix the miso and the cucumber completely and then dillute it with about a half cup of the same champagne used to marinade the tuna. You may want to add more to increase the volume of the sauce or adjust for consistancy. Place in a serving dish.

5. Serve the tartare along with the cucumber/miso sauce. Toast points can be added on the side.

Serves 6 as a small appetizer.

Iron Chef Notes:

I have no idea where to find salt-cured cucumbers. I suppose that substituting thin slices of cucumber that were rubbed with salt and stored in the refrigerator overnight, then rinsed off and minced would do.

To be honest, plain tuna tartare seems a bit bland and I'm guessing that the ground meat was seasoned with salt and -maybe- a touch of white pepper. However, there was none to be seen, so perhaps it was intended to be served with only the smokey flavor in it.