Sesame-Crusted Tuna with Ginger Cream & Glass Noodle Stir-Fry

By dyannucci

Made from the starch of vegetables like mung beans, translucent glass noodles (a.k.a. cellophane noodles) are ubiquitous at pan-Asian restaurants. Stir-fry them in sesame oil with a generous array of vegetables—snap peas, carrots, zucchini and yellow squash, to name a few—then tossing them with tangy rice vinegar.

Ingredients

• Glass Noodles:
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced peeled ginger
• 1/2 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 1/4 cup fresh orange juice
• 2 tablespoons mirin
• 2 tablespoons dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon Sriracha chile sauce
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• Six 6-ounce,
• 1-inch-thick tuna steaks
• 1/2 cup sesame seeds
• Glass Noodle Stir-Fry
• Four 1 3/4-ounce packages glass (cellophane) noodles 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons Asian sesame oil
• 6 ounces sugar snap peas, cut into thin matchsticks (about 2 cups)
• 2 small carrots, cut into thin matchsticks
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into thin matchsticks
• 1 small red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 small yellow squash, cut into thin matchsticks
• 1 small zucchini, cut into thin matchsticks
• 4 scallions, thinly sliced
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice

Details

Servings 6
Preparation time 30mins
Cooking time 30mins

Preparation

Step 1

1.In a saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil. Add the ginger, onion and garlic and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until softened, 5 minutes. Add the vinegar, orange juice, mirin, wine and Sriracha and simmer until the liquid is almost evaporated, 10 minutes. Add the cream and simmer until reduced by half, 15 minutes. Strain the sauce, season with salt and pepper; keep warm.

2.Season the tuna with salt and pepper and coat both sides with the sesame seeds. In a nonstick skillet, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil. Add the tuna; cook over moderately high heat, turning once, until the sesame seeds are browned and the tuna is medium-rare, 5 minutes. Slice the tuna 1/3 inch thick and serve with the ginger cream and Glass Noodle Stir-Fry.

Glass Noodles

1.In a large bowl of hot water, soak the glass noodles until pliable, about 15 minutes. Drain well, shaking off any excess water. Using kitchen scissors, cut the glass noodles into 4-inch lengths.
2.In a large nonstick skillet, heat the vegetable oil with the sesame oil. Add the snap peas, carrots, red pepper, red onion, yellow squash, zucchini and scallions and season with salt and pepper. Stir-fry the vegetables over high heat until lightly browned in spots but still crisp-tender, about 3 minutes.
3.Add the soaked glass noodles to the skillet and stir-fry over high heat until softened, about 2 minutes. Add the rice vinegar and orange juice and continue stir-frying until the glass noodles are translucent, about 2 minutes. Transfer the noodle stir-fry to plates and serve hot.