Tuna Tartare with Peas

This wonderfully flavored Tuna Tartare with Peas recipe is the perfect light appetizer to showcase the amazing freshness and flavor of these simple ingredients. Sashimi grade Tuna is cut into large bite-sized chunks and marinated in a delicious Salty, Lemony Marinade. It’s then served over a bed of lightly crushed Peas with Mint, Scallions, and Goats Cheese. This wonderful recipe is from an amazing restaurant called Cumulus Inc. located in Melbourne, Australia which we’ve been lucky enough to eat at. It’s a memorable dish that leaves you wanting to eat it again, which is great because the recipe is right here to enjoy!

How to make this tasty Tuna Tartare with Peas recipe

The beauty of this dish lies in its simplicity. At its heart, it’s just a bunch of perfectly paired ingredients that sing harmoniously on the plate together. That’s really what truly great cooking is all about isn’t it? Just allowing good ingredients to flourish, that’s exactly what this dish does, with the true star being that wonderful Tuna

Getting your hands on Sashimi grade Tuna should be pretty easy these days. Even if you are in landlocked locations around the world, the demand for Sashimi grade Tuna is so high that you should likely be able to find some at your local grocery store, and at specialty Seafood shops

We’ll need about 200 – 250g of Sashimi Grade Tuna for this dish (around 8 – 9 oz.), will be more than enough to feed 2 people a hearty appetite. Aim to get a nice, clean piece as we’ll be cutting it up into large bite-sized chunks for serving. You may need to trim some sinew from the Tuna, so try to get a piece with as little sinew as possible

The Tuna is then marinated in a beautiful sweet, salty, acidic sauce

Tuna has a subtle flavor and can easily be overpowered. Surprisingly, the marinade in this recipe packs a load of flavor yet is still able to highlight the wonderful flavors of this prized Fish. The marinate consists of a beautiful balance of ingredients that hit on the sweet, salty, and acidic flavor profiles

Sweetness is brought to the marinade by adding a touch of White Sugar. Saltiness is brought to the table through the inclusion of Soy Sauce and an Anchovy. Anchovies are an amazing ingredient to add to dressings and sauces, as they bring a beautiful briny flavor. They have a wonderful seafood flavor, making them perfect to pair with fish (naturally!)

Acidity is brought to the marinade through Balsamic Vinegar, Lemon Juice, and Lemon Zest. The quantities of each ingredient bring the sauce into perfect balance. However, like always, we recommend tasting the marinade before you add the Tuna

Once you mix in your Tuna, allow about 10 – 15 minutes to marinade in the refrigerator. We want the fish to stay cold, so keep it in the refrigerator, giving it a mix once or two throughout the time

One word of caution, while the marinade adds flavor it does impact the color of Tuna

Any kind of marinade involving acid is going to begin to ‘cook’ the fish, and this is no exception for this Tuna Tartare with Peas recipe. What you’ll notice is that after 10 minutes of sitting in the marinade the Tuna color is going to turn slightly grey

This is because the cooking process has begun. The inside of the Tuna will still be completely raw, but the outside will start to dull in color a bit. So, if you don’t care about visuals then we highly recommend keeping it in the marinade the whole time. If you’re like us however and want a beautiful plate of food (for photos and blogging!) then I’d suggest serving the marinade as a sauce that’s dressed over the Tuna right before plating

You’ll get a deeper flavor if you marinate the Tuna from the start, but this is another option to preserve those brilliant burgundy and red colors that is so famous with raw Tuna

Making the delicious Crushed Peas Salad

The combination of Peas, Mint, and Scallions is a real winner in this dish. They’re a classic combination of flavors, just like everything else in the dish, and they just work! It’s so easy to make too. Simply cook your Peas until they’re just cooked (about 90 seconds – 2 minutes in boiling water max), then hit them with cold water to stop the cooking process

Crush them up a little bit using a simple Potato Mashed or Mortar and Pestle and then add in some finely chopped Mint and Scallions, along with some Lemon Juice, Olive Oil, and Salt. Give it a taste and it’s ready to go!

Plating the Tuna Tartare with Crushed Peas

You can have fun with plating this dish. I like to use appetizer style plates (so slightly smaller than what you’d eat dinner with). You don’t need a lot on the plate, as the dish is surprisingly filling (likely due to the richness of the Tuna)

Add about 2 heaped spoonful’s of the Crushed Peas into the middle of the plate and spread it out a little (like you would a Risotto). Before you add the Tuna, the final ingredient is added to the dish – crumbly Goats Cheese!

In the Cumulus Inc. recipe, they use Goats Curd, but we just went with Goats Cheese, and it came out perfect. Just rustically crumble a few bits of Goats Cheese over the Peas before adding a few chunks of the Tuna. Avoid adding too much Goats Cheese, as it does have a powerful flavor

To finish the dish, spoon over a little more of that wonderful Marinade and it’s now ready to eat! This dish serves as a fantastic appetizer to kick off a fancy home cooked dinner. It’s great as an appetizer too, and you can make it in larger quantities so it’s perfect for a dinner party when you want to show off your cooking prowess!

We highly recommend giving this dish a go and seeing for yourself just how great some simple cooking can be. I love it when restaurants share their recipes, as it gives us at home a chance to not only recreate those dishes, but understand that restaurant quality recipes can be made at home by anyone

Tuna Tartare with Peas Recipe

Ingredients

• 250g / 8 oz. Sashimi Grade Tuna, cut into large bite-sized chunks
• 1 Garlic Clove, peeled
• 1 Anchovy Filet
• 1 tbsp. Soy Sauce
• 1 tsp. Balsamic Vinegar
• 2 tbsp. Olive Oil
• Zest of ½ a Lemon
• Pinch of White Sugar
  
  

Crushed Peas Ingredients

• 150g / ½ oz. Frozen Peas
• 3 tbsp. Olive Oil
• 1 tsp. Lemon Juice
• 1 Spring Onion, finely diced
• ¼ cup Mint Leaves, finely shredded
• a Pinch of Salt
• 2 tbsp. Goats Cheese
  
  

Instructions

1. Cut the Garlic and Anchovy finely so it almost resembles a paste. You can use a Mortar and Pestle or the side of a heavy knife to achieve this
2. Place both in a bowl along with Soy Sauce, Balsamic Vinegar, Olive Oil, Lemon Zest, and Sugar. Whisk well then add your Tuna and coat well and refrigerate for 10 minutes
3. Bring a saucepan to the boil then add your Peas and cook for 90 seconds. Strain and immediately place under cold water or ice water to drop the cooking process
4. Crush the Peas using a hand masher or Mortar and Pestle then mix with Olive Oil, Lemon Juice, Scallion, Mint, and Salt. Taste for seasoning
5. To serve, place a few spoonful’s of Crushed Peas on a plate. Crumble over some Goats Cheese before topping with the lightly marinated Tuna
   
   

Recipe Notes

• Marinating the Tuna will add loads of flavor but it will impact the brilliant burgundy colors of the fish. If you prefer you can avoid marinating the Tuna and simply spoon over some of the sauce right before plating
• This dish will work just as well with any other kind of Sashimi-grade Seafood like Salmon, Shrimp, and Scallops
  
  

This wonderful Tuna Tartare with Crushed Peas and Goats Cheese recipe is an absolute ‘must-try’ at home. The marrying of simple ingredients that work perfectly together is showcased brilliantly in this wonderful dish

If you enjoy this recipe then we recommend you check out these other amazing Seafood appetizers we’ve got here at Dinnertime Somewhere:

• Scallops with Garlic Butter Breadcrumbs
• Teriyaki Shrimp Skewers
• Tuna Carpaccio with Lemon and Soy
• Shrimp and Mango Ceviche
  
  

Happy Cooking!