How to make seared tuna with miso-sesame seed oil

If you’re bored of winter stews and need a visual pick-me-up, try Julia Platt Leonard’s seared tuna salad with colourful radishes for a dish that tastes as good as it looks

Beauty is only belly deep: something lighter, fresher and more eye-catching is just the ticket to beat the January blues (Photographs by Julia Platt Leonard)

Should it matter what your food looks like? Isn’t what’s really important how it tastes? Well, yes and no. Of course, food should taste good but we eat with our eyes first, far before the first forkful. How food looks is a signal to our stomachs and our mouths. The message can be a happy one or not.

Traditional winter foods – stews and slow cooked dishes – may satisfy our desire to hunker down but they don’t always dazzle visually. By January, we’ve seen (and tasted) our fair share of comfort foods and something lighter, fresher and more colourful may be just the ticket.

This seared tuna with pickled watermelon radish is bursting with colour. Watermelon radishes have a pale green skin which is eatable – just give them a good scrub first – and brilliant pink flesh. If you can’t find watermelon radish, then you could thinly slice traditional red and white radishes or use daikon radish (although you’ll miss out on the colour).

Pair it with a creamy miso dressing, black and white sesame seeds and a garnish of micro herbs. If you can’t find micro herbs, substitute alfalfa, radish or another small sprout.

Note: The tuna is seared only and remains raw inside so it goes without saying, choose the very best and freshest tuna you can find.

(Julia Platt Leonard)

Seared tuna with miso-sesame seed oil and pickled watermelon radish

Serves two as a starter or two as a main with addition of steamed rice and vegetables

Watermelon radish

1 watermelon radish, about 200g
125ml rice wine vinegar
25g caster sugar
1 tsp mirin
½ tsp pink peppercorns
½ tsp salt

Miso-sesame oil

2 tbsp white miso
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tsp mirin
¼ tsp toasted sesame oil, plus more for drizzling
salt
1 thick cut tuna steak, about 2½cm thick, around 300g
oil
salt and pepper

To garnish

micro herbs or sprouts
black and white sesame seeds

For the pickled radish, place the vinegar, sugar, mirin, peppercorns and salt in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. While the mixture is heating up, scrub the radish and slice very thinly, using either a mandolin or sharp knife. Place the sliced radish in a bowl or glass jar and cover with the pickling liquid. Let steep for at least an hour. This can be made the day before and stored in a sealed jar in the refrigerator.

In a jar or bowl, mix together all of the ingredients for the miso-sesame oil dressing. Taste and add salt if needed. Set aside.

Heat a non-stick pan over a high heat. Lightly brush the tuna steak with oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Sear on both sides – no more than a minute in total. Let the tuna rest for about 5-10 minutes. Slice thinly against the grain of the meat. The direction of the grain may change on a steak, so you’ll need to adjust your slicing angle accordingly.

Divide the pickled radish onto two plates. Top with sliced tuna steak and drizzle with the dressing and a very light drizzle of sesame oil. Garnish with sesame seeds and the micro herbs or sprouts.

@juliapleonard