What can be better than a composed salad uses the best superfood, the finest fish, and the most creamiest dressing? Yes, this seared tuna avocado salad with creamy ginger dressing includes all of those amazing ingredients.
There is no doubt that avocado is everybody's favorite fruit, now and forever. You can do a lot of things with just a single avocado.
Turn it into a delicious smoothie, or an amazing dipping guacamole, or better yet paired it with tuna to make the most delicious salad. One salad to rule them all, you may say.
This salad was one of the best sellers when I put it on the menu. So I can't wait to share it to the world so everybody can have a piece of goodness themselves.
That said, besides being a perfect family dinner, this tuna avocado salad recipe is also a good appetizer on any restaurant menu.
Cooking schedule
- 11:00 am - grate ginger & garlic
- 11:15 am - make ginger dressing
- 11:20 am - dredge tuna in sesame seeds mixture
- 11:25 am - sear tuna
- 11:35 am - rest & cut tuna into pieces
- 11:40 am - assemble salad
- 11:45 am - serve
Why is this seared tuna avocado salad special?
This tuna avocado salad is made of many amazing ingredients which make it really stand out. Those ingredients include:
Superfood avocado - avocado is famously known for the amount nutrients and antioxidants contain in such a small fruit. Omega 3, magnesium, potassium to name a few. There are also 21 good reasons why avocado is superfood.
Ahi tuna (yellowfin tuna) - the finest and most desirable piece of fish out there. I used ahi tuna in this recipe, but feel free to switch out for any tuna you have on hands.
- Together with bluefin tuna, ahi tuna is usually used for sashimi and sushi.
- Because of that, both of these tuna varieties, especially bluefin one, are becoming very scarce due to over fishing.
Tuna avocado salad
Creamy ginger dressing - the most creamiest and tastiest salad dressing you've ever tried I promised. Though it is made of simple and easy to find ingredients, the approach used to make the dressing is which makes it so special.
- Ginger and garlic are grated using Japanese style shark skin grater in spite of regular aluminum grater. This grater is widely used in many Japanese restaurants.
- The grater helps to break down the dense texture of ginger and garlic completely by eliminating the appearances of rhizome.
- I have used this amazing grater in some of my recipes (here and here) to obtain such finest texture from ginger and garlic.
- This grater is also used in most of Japanese restaurants. Every had the fresh grated wasabi? It is grated by one of these grates, and not any other Western types.
Japanese grater
Types of salad
This seared tuna avocado salad belongs to one of two types of a green salad: composed salad. A composed salad is prepare by arranging each of the ingredients on the plate in an ideal fashion.
The other type of green salad is tossed salad. A tossed salad can be found in many fast food restaurants. It is prepared by placing the salads, garnishes, and dressing in a large mixing bowl and tossing to combine everything.
Other types of salad include bound salad, vegetable salad and fruit salad.
- Vegetable and fruit salads are easy to identify by their main ingredients.
- A bound salad is included cooked meats, poultry, pasta or even potatoes mixed/bound with a dressing.
How to make seared tuna avocado salad
Time needed: 15 minutes.
It is best to use whole block of tuna (tuna steak) for this salad. I also used sushi grade tuna steak so it has perfect shape for the work.
- Gather ingredients
Shred salad into bit size, mix black and white sesame seeds together with a pinch of salt, slice or cut avocado in to cubes/pieces.
- Coat tuna
In a medium size mixing bowl or deep dish, add sesame seeds in then coat all sides of tuna evenly with the mixture. Slightly press sesame seeds to adhere to the tuna.
- Sear tuna
On medium high heat, heat a generous amount of oil in a large frying pan. Wait until the oil is hot, put tuna in and sear for 20 to 30 seconds. Remember to cook only the outer part of the tuna, not the whole tuna thoroughly.
- Turn tuna and keep searing
Turn the tuna to the other side and keep searing until the outer part of that side is cooked. Keep turning and searing tuna until 4 main sides of the tuna steak are cooked (outer part only).
- Cut tuna into pieces
Let the tuna rest for 30 seconds so it's not too hot to handle. Use a sharp knife to slice or cut tuna into desired size. Lay them out on a bed of salad (tossed with creamy ginger dressing) together with avocado slices.
FAQ
Definitely. It'll take a while to grate ginger and garlic so it is best to make the dressing beforehand.
The dressing can be kept in an air-tight container, under refrigeration, for up to 1 week.
The best practice is to cut avocado right before eating/serving time. Or you can squeeze a little lemon/lime juice on to the flesh of the avocado to keep it from turning brown. Put cut avocado in an air tight container also helps it from browning.
Did you make this recipe? If so please leave a rating and let me know how it went in the comment section. Also, don't forget to tag me #cookmorphosis @cookmorphosis on social media.
Tuna Avocado Salad With Asian Style Ginger Dressing
Equipment
- Japanese grater
Ingredients
- 7 oz tuna steak prefer sushi grade
- 3 tbsp black sesame seed
- 3 tbsp white sesame seed
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 sheet nori cut into small pieces, optional
- spring mix salad as needed
- 1 medium avocado sliced
Creamy Ginger Dressing
- 4 tbsp white vinegar
- 1 tbsp soy sauce prefer Kikkoman
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp garlic grated
- 2 tsp ginger grated
- 1 tsp cayenne powder
- ⅔ c mayonnaise
Instructions
For dressing
- Whisk all ingredients in a mixing bowl to combine everything. The dressing can be stored in an airtight container, in the fridge, up to 1 week.
For seared tuna
- In a medium size mixing bowl or deep dish, add sesame seeds in then coat all sides of tuna evenly with the mixture. Slightly press sesame seeds to adhere to the tuna.
- On medium high heat, heat a generous amount of oil (about 3-4 tbsp) in a large frying pan. Wait until the oil is hot, put tuna in and sear for 20 to 30 seconds. Remember to cook only the outer part of the tuna, not the whole tuna thoroughly.
- Turn the tuna to the other side and keep searing until the outer part of that side is cooked. Keep turning and searing tuna until 4 main sides of the tuna steak are cooked (outer part only).
- Let the tuna rest for 30 seconds so it's not too hot to handle. Use a sharp knife to slice or cut tuna into desired size.
Assemble
- Lightly toss salad with creamy ginger dressing and put them on a serving plate.
- Add nori (optional), slices of avocado & seared tuna on top. Serve immediately.
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