Braised Tuna with Chinese-Style Vegetables

This is a complete meal. If you wish to serve more, we suggest a salad course. In the summer, we serve the rice noodles cold. You can substitute marlin or any other firm fish for the tuna. And, you can use other, more delicate seafood by changing the cooking process: Simply poach, steam, or broil the delicate fish separately.

SERVES: 4

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 to 1 1/4 pound fresh tuna, trimmed
• 1/2 cup cornstarch or arrowroot
• 1 heaping cup julienned carrots
• 1 heaping cup red sweet pepper, cut into strips
• 1 heaping cup sliced onions
• 1 heaping cup deveined pea pods
• 1/2 cup peeled and thinly sliced ginger root
• 1 small bulb garlic, minced
• 1 jalapeno pepper, minced (or 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper)
• 2/3 cup mirin
• 1/2 cup tamari or soy sauce
• 4 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1/2 pound rice stick noodles
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• ginger pickles (available from Asian grocery stores), sliced green onions, and fresh cilantro for garnish

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Cut trimmed tuna meat into 1/4-inch thick strips. They should be no longer than 3 inches long and about 1 inch wide.
2. Put the cornstarch or arrowroot and tuna in a brown paper bag, and shake it to lightly coat the tuna. Shake off excess cornstarch when you remove the tuna from the bag.
3. Prepare all the vegetables.
4. Combine mirin, tamari or soy sauce, and vinegar in a bowl. Stir well.
5. Have a pot of boiling water ready for the rice noodles. They take about 5 minutes, depending on type of noodle (follow package instructions). The tuna cooks in only 6 minutes, so be sure to start the noodles just after you start the tuna.
6. In a large saute pan or wok, heat the vegetable and sesame oil. Lay strips of tuna in hot oil, and saute briefly over high heat for about 1 minute. Turn them over, and immediately put in the garlic and ginger. Stir gently for approximately 1 minute, so the garlic gets sauteed briefly.
7. Add the carrots, onion, and peppers.
8. Pour in the mirin, tamari, and vinegar mixture, stir gently, and cover. Bring to a boil, turn down a bit, and simmer, covered, for a few minutes until vegetables are slightly crisp.
9. Top the fish with vegetables and their sauce. If you prepare the fish without cornstarch, you may choose to thicken the bean sauce with a little cornstarch dissolved in water added to the sauce at the last minute.
10. Be sure not to overcook the tuna. This all goes very quickly. At the last second add the pea pods.
11. Serve immediately along with rice noodles. Garnish with ginger pickles, sliced green onions, and fresh cilantro.