Seafood Recipes: Tuna Tartare With XO Dressing
A great dish with fresh tuna incorporating an extremely tasty sauce from your fish filleting.
This is one of my go-to recipes, and is great for entertaining at home. More importantly, it’s a terrific way to use up fish meat left on the bone when filleting your catch, or any of the more imperfect cuts that have a little more sinew than is ideal for sashimi.
XO is definitely one of my favourite sauces. Originating in Hong Kong in the 1980s, it traditionally includes Chinese ham and dried seafood, and is named after the designation given to high quality brandy to give the feel of luxury. My version is completely seafood based, and in the restaurant we developed it to use up fish trim that we are unable to use in other parts of the menu to better utilise the whole fish. It is more commonly used in hot preparations, but I have also found it makes a killer vinaigrette for cold seafood preparations, such as in the following recipe, or with scallop crudo.
Be warned that the XO does take a couple of hours to make and is best made in larger quantities. In saying that, it is delicious with almost everything, and keeps for literally years, I still have a container of XO in my fridge I made during the first 2020 lockdown that has only improved with age. A jar of bought quality XO sauce is also fine if you don’t want to go to the trouble of making your own.
There are two stages to the XO sauce, the first is cooking and picking the fish scraps, and frying them at low temperature to make what we call ‘fish floss’, then there’s the cooking and finishing of the sauce itself. Like I said, it’s a bit of a process, but a great weekend project if you’re feeling inspired.
XO Sause Ingredients
- 1kg fish scraps, cooked and shredded finely, without bones or skin
- 2L vegetable oil
- 175g peeled garlic cloves
- ½ bunch green shallots
- 50g long red chilli
- ½ bunch coriander
- 70g ginger
- 300ml grapeseed oil
- 80g shrimp paste
- 350ml Shaoxing wine
- 50ml soy sauce
- 175ml mirin
Method:
Deep fry the fish scraps in a deep large pot at 140C for about 8–10 minutes, or until deeply golden brown and completely crispy all the way through. When the bubbling of the oil subsides that’s a good indicator that there’s no moisture left and they’re ready to go. Drain on a paper towel to remove excess oil and reserve. It will keep like this indefinitely.
In a food processor, blend all ingredients except the Shaoxing wine, mirin, soy, and fish floss together to form a smooth paste. Add to a pot and cook over low heat for about an hour. Stir and scrape the bottom very regularly, as it will want to stick. As it sticks, continue scraping the bottom clean and incorporating it back into the sauce. A little scorching is perfectly fine, even preferred, as it gives a rich caramelised flavour.
The mixture will turn a deep, dark brown colour, and when it does, add the remaining liquids and 150g of the fish floss and bring to a simmer. Cook out for another hour very gently, again stirring constantly. It should be a deep dark brown and smell intensely funky and delicious. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Taste and adjust the seasoning with a pinch of sugar if needed. It will store in this state in the fridge almost indefinitely, and only improves as it sits and the flavours meld.
The Main Dish Ingredients
Serves 4 as an entrée, 10 as a snack
- 350g fresh tuna, diced into 0.5cm cubes, or minced
- 1 Lebanese cucumber, diced into 0.5cm pieces
- 1 eschallot, finely chopped
- 20 leaves mint, finely sliced
- 2tbsp sliced chives
- 20 leaves coriander, finely chopped
- XO sauce, to taste
- 2 limes, juiced and added to taste
- Rice vinegar, to taste
- Extra virgin olive oil, to taste
- Mint and coriander leaves, for garnish
- Prawn crackers, to serve
Method:
Add the tuna, cucumber, eschallot and herbs to a large mixing bowl and add a large tablespoon of the XO, a generous amount of lime juice and olive oil, a little rice vinegar, and a good pinch of sea salt, and mix well to combine. Taste and adjust to your liking — you’re looking for it to be a little funky, with balanced acidity, sweetness and well-seasoned.
Serve garnished with the fresh herbs as garnish, with prawn crackers on the side to scoop up the tartare. You can thank me later.