Super delicious ahi tuna tacos made by my friend Christina! The tuna is seared, the tortillas are warmed, the avocado is ripe, and that sour cream sauce is wowow. Cilantro, jalapeño, and lime complete the dish. Eat fresh and enjoy ^_^
Christina is visiting from Taipei!
We've been doing tasty stuff all month. Burgers and fries, a tortilla class, a Moroccan feast, afternoon tea, pizza party, and best of all...tuna tacos ^_^
We've been friends for well over a decade and she is my son's godmother.
He is a lucky kid ❤️
Christina posted a photo of tuna tacos she made on Instagram Stories and I was like wooow. A week later, we were making them at her apartment.
It was a pretty great afternoon for all. H was an especially happy boy with his new Mario Kart cars and endless tortilla chips. Thank you, Aunty Christina ^_^
She shared the recipe with me, and I'm excited to share it with you today!
Are you ready to make tuna tacos with us?!
Ingredients
Here's what you'll need:
- Ahi tuna steaks - Sashimi grade because we are going to sear them (so the center will still be raw).
- Romaine or little gem lettuce
- Cilantro
- Jalapeño
- Avocado - Make sure the avocado is nice and ripe.
- Sour cream
- Limes - Get some juicy limes.
- Taco seasoning blend - Your choice!
- Salt
- Pepper
- Taco-sized corn tortillas - We love Raiz Tortillas, a local handmade tortilla company here on Oahu.
Instructions
Let's get cooking! Here are the recipe instructions from Christina:
Season the ahi tuna steaks generously on all sides with salt, pepper, and the taco seasoning blend.
Chop romaine or little gem lettuce until it becomes shredded in consistency.
Give the cilantro leaves a rough chop and slice the jalapeño into rounds as thinly as possible. If you prefer it to be less spicy, de-rib and deseed the jalapeño before slicing.
Halve and pit avocado. Then cut into thin strips.
Mix the sour cream with the juice of half a lime to thin out the consistency. Add some salt to taste.
Note from Christina: Sometimes, I also like to add a few dashes hot sauce (such as Cholula or Tapatio) to give it a bit of color and a spicy kick!
Coat bottom of pan with oil and get it hot enough to where the oil is shimmering.
Place seasoned steaks in the pan, one at a time, searing on all sides until you see 5mm of cooked tuna all around, leaving the center rare.
This should only take around 30 seconds per side. The seasoning should also become slightly blackened.
Slice tuna into ¼” thick slices against the grain.
Heat tortillas in a hot pan without oil, flipping 3 times, 10 seconds each until warmed and pliable.
Build tacos beginning with a mound of shredded lettuce, 2–3 avocado slices, 2 slices of tuna, 2 slices of jalapeño. Top with cilantro and a dollop of sour cream.
Add a squeeze of lime right before taking a bite!
Three tacos each was the perfect size for lunch ^_^
For dessert, Christina made iced matcha! Ippodo, of course.
We had it with wagashi she brought from Tokyo. So thoughtful ^_^
Great Tortillas!
Great tortillas are key to great tacos. We photographed this recipe a few days before attending a tortilla class and dinner at Artizen / MW Restaurant.
Little did we know we would discover our new favorite tortillas that night!
The event was a collaboration between MW Restaurant, Raiz Tortillas (you can buy their fresh tortillas at Kaka'ako Farmers Market), and Mercado De La Raza.
We made and ate many, many fresh tortillas that night!
The Raiz Tortillas were so good, especially the blue corn ones. They make white, yellow, red, and blue corn tortillas.
We went to Mercado De La Raza a few days later where Christina got the last bag of Raiz Tortillas and made ahi tuna tacos again (that's the picture above, looks awesome). She then went to the farmers market a few days later for another round of blue corn tortillas!
The tortillas are made here in Honolulu and they are truly delicious.
FAQ
Christina got sashimi-grade ahi tuna steaks from the Foodland Farms in Ala Moana. You can also get fresh ahi from Local 'Ia and Tamashiro Market
We had tortilla chips and salsa on the side. And Diet Coke! Tacos just feel "right" with soda ^_^
This recipe is very flexible.
Feel free to use more or less of pretty much any ingredient and tailor to your taste. Double up on the avocado, add an extra spoonful of sour cream.
Tacos are also a great idea for parties, everyone loves to assemble their own custom tacos!
Tuna Tacos Recipe
Tuna Tacos
Ingredients
- 1-2 ahi tuna steaks Sashimi-grade, about .75 pounds total.
- 1 small head romaine or little gem lettuce
- 2-3 sprigs cilantro
- 1 jalapeño
- 1 avocado
- ½ cup sour cream
- 2 limes Save ½ a lime for the sour cream mixture. Cut the rest of the limes into wedges for squeezing over the finished tacos.
- taco seasoning blend Any brand you like.
- salt
- pepper
- 8 taco-sized corn tortillas
Instructions
- Season the ahi tuna steaks generously on all sides with salt, pepper, and the taco seasoning blend.
- Chop romaine or little gem lettuce until it becomes shredded in consistency.
- Give the cilantro leaves a rough chop and slice the jalapeño into rounds as thinly as possible. If you prefer it to be less spicy, de-rib and deseed the jalapeño before slicing.
- Halve and pit avocado. Then cut into thin strips.
- Mix sour cream with the juice of half a lime to thin out the consistency. Add some salt to taste. Note from Christina: Sometimes, I also like to add a few dashes hot sauce (such as Cholula or Tapatio) to give it a bit of color and a spicy kick!
- Coat bottom of pan with oil and get it hot enough to where the oil is shimmering. Place seasoned steaks in the pan, one at a time, searing on all sides until you see 5mm of cooked tuna all around, leaving the center rare. This should only take around 30 seconds per side. The seasoning should also become slightly blackened.
- Slice tuna into ¼” thick slices against the grain.
- Heat tortillas in a hot pan without oil, flipping 3 times, 10 seconds each until warmed and pliable.
- Build tacos beginning with a mound of shredded lettuce, 2–3 avocado slices, 2 slices of tuna, 2 slices of jalapeño, top with cilantro and a dollop of sour cream. Add a squeeze of lime right before taking a bite!
Mahalo for Reading!