We are lucky to have a great fish monger close by, so were able to buy sushi-grade tuna for this delicious salad from Lucy Waverman’s Dinner Tonight cookbook. Cook the noodles and make the sauce. Then sauté shiitake mushrooms and ginger and stir in mirin, sesame oil, soy sauce, vinegar and green onions. Then quickly sear the tuna so that it brown on the outside and rare in the centre (you can cook it longer if you wish, but the tuna won’t be as tender). Plate the noodle mixture and top with slices of the tuna and a spoonful of sauce.

Avoiding Additives and Preservatives

Wasabi paste typically contains artificial colour and flavour, so I used 1 tsp (5 ml) of freshly grated horseradish and 1 tsp (5 ml) of President’s Choice Old-Fashion mustard in place of the wasabi paste. I used tamari instead of soy sauce, Yoshi mirin, Marukan rice vinegar and Lee Kum Kee sesame oil, which are additive-free.

Add cooked noodles to sautéed mushrooms

Quickly sear tuna on each side - it should be rare in the middle

Seared tuna with Japanese noodles

Ingredients:

2 tsp (10 ml) wasabi power or paste

½ cup (125 ml) mayonnaise

3 tbsp (45 ml) whipping cream

8 oz (226 g) udon noodles

2 tbsp (30 ml) vegetable oil

6 shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and thinly sliced

1 tbsp (15 ml) grated ginger

1 tbsp (15 ml) mirin

1 tsp (5 ml) sesame oil

2 tbsp (30 ml) soy sauce

1 tbsp (15 ml) rice vinegar

3 green onions, slivered

4 8-oz (226 g) tuna steaks, about 1 inch (2.54 cm) thick

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Preparation:

Combine wasabi, mayonnaise and whipping cream. Add a little water if it is too thick.

Cook noodles in boiling water until al dente. Drain well.

Heat 1 tsp (5 ml) oil in a large skillet on medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and ginger and sauté until softened, about 1 minute. Stir in mirin, sesame oil, soy sauce, vinegar and green onions. Stir in noodles and keep warm.

Heat remaining 1 tbsp (15 ml) oil in skillet on medium-high heat. Season tuna with salt and pepper. Sear tuna for 2 minutes per side (or longer if desired).

Divide noodle mixture among serving plates. Thinly slice tuna and place on top. Spoon wasabi mayonnaise onto tuna. Serves 4.

From Lucy Waverman’s Dinner Tonight