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Ahi Tuna Tostadas

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Ahi Tuna Tostadas with Wasabi Aioli
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Almost a year ago now I attended the opening party for the restaurant Joey Don Mills here in Toronto. While I was there I saw their as of yet unfinished rooftop patio in addition to getting to sample lots of tasty food. Last week I had the opportunity to attend their long awaited rooftop patio opening party and I have to say, the patio looks great and the food was just as good as I remembered it. I got to sample a number of their dishes while I was there and the one that really caught my attention this time was one of their signature dishes, the ahi tuna tacos and I could not resist trying to recreate them at home.
The ahi tuna tacos are essentially bite sized tacos filled with a sesame and ginger coleslaw topped with a piece of perfectly seared ahi tuna served with a wasabi and lime aioli. The tacos shells are made from a crispy fried wontons and since I could not figure out how to fry them in the shape of a taco shell I ended up making tostadas rather than tacos. I was in luck for the the sesame and ginger coleslaw as I had recently made some and all I needed to do was tweak the recipe a bit to make a mayonnaise-less version. Next up was the wasabi and lime aioli and although aioli is pretty easy to make I was a little pressed for time so I made a really quick and easy version using mayonnaise as the based. With all of the ingredients present all that was left to do was to grill up the tuna and assemble everything. The key to the tuna is to sear it very briefly such that the middle is still nice and pink when you pull it off of the grill.
The ahi tuna tostadas turned out amazingly well! The fried wontons were nice and light and crispy and the sesame and ginger coleslaw was cool and tasty and brought a nice crunchy texture. The wasabi aioli had a mild wasabi flavour and just a hint of bite that did not threaten to overwhelm the delicate flavours of the tuna. With all of the Japanese flavours going on in these tostadas I could not help but try putting a Korean spin on things and I made half of them with a guchujang and lime aioli which was also really good. This dish may be a little decadent with the cost of tuna these days but it is definitely worth treating yourself every once in a while.
If you are interested you can take a look at some of the photos that I took at the party in my Joey Don Mills Patio Flickr Gallery .

Ahi Tuna Tostadas with Gochujang Aioli

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Ahi Tuna Tostadas

Ahi Tuna Tostadas

Cook Time:15 minutes Total Time:15 minutes Servings: 4
ingredients
  • oil for frying
  • 16 wonton wrappers (or corn tortillas cut into triangles)
  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 1 5 ounce ahi tuna steak
  • salt and pepper or cajun/creole seasoning to taste
  • 1 cup sesame and ginger coleslaw
  • 3 tablespoons wasabi aioli (or gochujang aioli, see below)
  • 2 green onions (sliced)
  • 4 birds eye chilies (sliced)
  • 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
directions
  1. Heat the oil in a pan.
  2. Fry the wontons in batches until crispy and set aside on paper towels to drain.
  3. Heat up the grill (or your grill pan) and brush it with oil.
  4. Season the tuna on both sides.
  5. Grill the tuna for no more than 2 minutes per side.
  6. Cut the ahi tuna into slices.
  7. Assemble the tostadas and enjoy.
Simple Wasabi and Lime Aioli

Simple Wasabi and Lime Aioli

Prep Time:10 minutes Total Time:10 minutes Servings: 1
ingredients
  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 teaspoon wasabi
  • 1/2 lime (juice)
directions
  1. Mix everything.
Simple Gochujang and Lime Aioli

Simple Gochujang and Lime Aioli

Prep Time:10 minutesTotal Time:10 minutes Servings: 1
ingredients
  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 tablespoon gochujang
  • 1/2 lime (juice)
directions
  1. Mix everything.
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Use in:
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  14. Carrie says

    June 22, 2010 at 7:40 pm

    What a great way to play with Ahi Tuna. I can hear the crunch of the crisp tostada just by looking at the picture. I bet it pairs well with a margarita!

    Reply

  27. Amanda DB says

    July 25, 2010 at 6:22 am

    So excited to have found this recipe. I am pretty sure that Joey Don Mills must be part of the same chains as Joeys here in Winnipeg. Because I LOVE their sushi taco and they look exactly like this! So glad I found the recipe.

    Quick question though… where does one fine Sushi Grade Ahi Tuna Steak? And do you have to use it right away or can you store it???

    Thanks for your help!
    Amanda

    Reply

  28. Kevin says

    July 25, 2010 at 2:57 pm

    Amanda DB: I get my sushi quallity tuna from a local fish monger/store. If you don't see it there ask them about it. If you are going to be using the tuna for sushi or if you are just going to be barely searing it like in this recipe I would use it the day that I bought it. The sooner the better.

    Reply

  29. Anonymous says

    July 29, 2010 at 4:39 am

    Hi! Its Amanda DB again.

    So I might be too much of an amateur to be making this but Im going to try anyways because it looks so delicious!

    Can you tell me how I would go about "searing" the tuna?

    Thanks again!

    Reply

  30. Kevin says

    July 29, 2010 at 10:49 am

    Amanda DB: To sear the tuna, heat your pan to med-high and oil it up a bit. Place the tuna steak on and cook for no more than a minute or two on each side. You can watch the sides of the tuna steak and when you can see the side on the heat start turning white to a depth of just barely 1/8 inch it is done and you can flip it and cook the other side. You can cook it more if you prefer but the idea is that you want a much pink left as possible as cooked tuna can be a bit on the dry side and you want it to still be nice and moist and tender.

    Reply

  32. Anonymous says

    April 11, 2013 at 3:21 pm

    These are close to the most wonderful thing I have put in my mouth. A bit time consuming but I am still thinking about these and I made them 2 days ago! So yummy!

    Reply

  33. Anonymous says

    April 22, 2015 at 9:50 pm

    Thank you for this (and your slaw) recipe, as I was addicted to Joey Tomatoes Ahi Tuna Tacos too and missed them when I moved far away from their locations. Your recipe was great and the only 'Joey' addition I added was to coat the tuna with a cajun spice before searing it. (That's what they do!) Perfection and finally able to indulge in my favourite treat! Thank you Thank you Thank you!

    Reply

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