• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Closet Cooking

Cooking adventures in a small, closet sized, kitchen. - I came to realize that my meals were boring and that I had been eating the same few dishes over and over again for years. It was time for a change! I now spend my free time searching for, creating and trying tasty new recipes in my closet sized kitchen.

  • Recipes
    • Recipe Index
    • Top Recipes
    • 30 Minute Meals
    • 6 Ingredient Meals
    • Slow Cooker Meals
    • One Pan Meals
    • By Course
      • Main Course
      • Side Dish
      • Dessert
      • Appetizer/Snack
      • More
    • By Diet
      • Gluten-free
      • Low-carb
      • Vegetarian
      • More
    • By Meat
      • Beef
      • Chicken
      • Lamb
      • Egg
      • Pork
      • Seafood
      • Turkey
      • More
    • By Cuisine
      • Cajun and Creole
      • Chinese
      • Greek
      • Italian
      • Japanese
      • Korean
      • Mexican
      • Thai
      • Vietnamese
      • More
    • By Type
      • Burger
      • Cake
      • Cookie
      • Dip
      • Pasta
      • Pizza
      • Salad
      • Sandwich
      • Soup
      • More
    • By Ingredient
      • Avocado
      • Bacon
      • Cauliflower
      • Mushroom
      • Pumpkin
      • Quinoa
      • Shrimp
      • Strawberry
      • More
  • Cookbooks
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter
Never miss a recipe! Subscribe to the email Newsletter!

Ahi Tuna Tostadas

[heart_this] · Jun 22, 2010 · 34 Comments

Ahi Tuna Tostadas with Wasabi Aioli

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

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 minutes Total Time: 10 minutes Servings: 1
ingredients
  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 tablespoon gochujang
  • 1/2 lime (juice)
directions
  1. Mix everything.
Use in:
Bean Sprout Kimchi Ahi Tuna Tostadas

Similar Recipes:
Bean Sprout Kimchi Ahi Tuna Tostadas
Chipotle Lime Grilled Shrimp and Corn Guacamole Mini Tostadas
Chipotle Lime Shrimp Tostadas
Sesame Crusted Ahi Tuna Steak
Crispy Rolled Shrimp Tacos
Ceviche
Sesame Crusted Seared Ahi Tuna ‘Sushi’ Salad with Wasabi Vinaigrette
Spicy Tuna and Avocado Cucumber Sushi Bites
Ahi Tuna Poke Bowl
Spicy Shrimp Sushi Stacks
Chorizo and Potato Tostadas with Fried Eggs

Appetizer, Food, Grill, Japanese, Korean, Low-carb, Mexican, Recipe, Seafood, Shrimp

eCookbook Bundle Cover

Get ALL 16 Closet Cooking eCookbooks in a bundle for 70% off! Enjoy some of the tastiest recipes from Closet Cooking along with exclusive cookbook recipes!

Get the Cookbook Bundle Now!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. xx says

    June 22, 2010 at 2:00 am

    you like cooking?

    Reply
  2. Jan says

    June 22, 2010 at 3:13 am

    These look spectacular, Kevin. Fabulous job!

    Reply
  3. The Wine-y Tomato says

    June 22, 2010 at 4:29 am

    these sound so yummy!

    Reply
  4. Priya says

    June 22, 2010 at 5:51 am

    Wow…Sounds fabulous and yum

    Reply
  5. Rosa's Yummy Yums says

    June 22, 2010 at 6:21 am

    Splendid!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

    Reply
  6. Joanne says

    June 22, 2010 at 10:19 am

    If all the food was this good at the opening then your stomach must have been seriously satisfied! These are such a great idea.

    Reply
  7. Nela says

    June 22, 2010 at 10:56 am

    Hi, I'm from Romania, I appreciate talent in the culinary arts. You are a master! Have a nice day

    Reply
  8. bellini valli says

    June 22, 2010 at 11:55 am

    I think you have recreated what you discovered at Joeys very well kevin.

    Reply
  9. ♥peachkins♥ says

    June 22, 2010 at 1:00 pm

    I can almost imagine the texture of this!

    Reply
  10. Gloria says

    June 22, 2010 at 1:17 pm

    Aaah Kevin these look absolutely yummy and tasty! gloria

    Reply
  11. Cara says

    June 22, 2010 at 4:51 pm

    Sounds delicious, I could go for some ahi tuna now!

    Reply
  12. Champagne/StitchPoet/CrushParty says

    June 22, 2010 at 5:02 pm

    Now I'm starving! Had to reblog this on CrushParty! YUMMMMM

    Reply
  13. Cooking with Kait says

    June 22, 2010 at 6:49 pm

    Gorgeous tostadas. Nice use of wonton wrappers.

    Reply
  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
  15. Kira says

    June 22, 2010 at 8:06 pm

    OMG! It looks sooooo yummy!

    Reply
  16. Jenn says

    June 22, 2010 at 8:35 pm

    Awesome tostadas!!! I love ahi tuna, too. Bookmarking this!!

    Reply
  17. Cathy says

    June 22, 2010 at 9:59 pm

    These sound amazing! I will be trying these very soon! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  18. fatgirl_vs_world says

    June 23, 2010 at 2:31 am

    I just licked the screen….

    Reply
  19. Mary says

    June 24, 2010 at 6:10 am

    Okay, this sounds so good! My husband and I were just at a restaurant and had a similar appy which we LOVED and wanted to try to replicate… and here, sure enough, you do a post! Great, thanks!

    xxMK
    Delightful Bitefuls

    Reply
  20. Melissa says

    June 25, 2010 at 1:25 am

    I think if you fried the wonton wrappers around something cylantrical that would probably work.

    Reply
  21. Cameron Hinton says

    June 25, 2010 at 2:41 am

    Another great dish! Thank you!

    Reply
  22. Anonymous says

    June 25, 2010 at 12:26 pm

    these are making my mouth water!

    Reply
  23. Magic of Spice says

    June 25, 2010 at 6:34 pm

    What a fantastic dish…I could eat this at every meal:)

    Reply
  24. jenisnape says

    June 26, 2010 at 2:21 am

    Just made these! Delish! Thanks 🙂

    Reply
  25. Dan says

    June 27, 2010 at 3:20 am

    looks delicious, but are you comfortable cooking with tuna these days? Would you change anything if it was mahi-mahi?

    Reply
  26. Kevin says

    June 29, 2010 at 12:23 am

    Dan: Mahi-mahi would be another great fish to use and you should be able to substitute it in directly.

    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
  31. cribs says

    November 2, 2010 at 6:16 am

    This is pretty interesting! I like to make some. I want to try what it tastes like.

    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
  34. kevin says

    July 26, 2015 at 3:13 pm

    Anonymous: I like the sound of the cajun spice on the tuna!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe to the free Closet Cooking email newsletter and get a FREE copy of the eBook:
The Best of Closet Cooking!

About Me

Kevin: I came to realize that my meals were boring and that I had been eating the same few dishes over and over again for years. It was time for a change! I now spend my free time searching for, creating and trying tasty new recipes in my closet sized kitchen.
Read More

The Best of Closet Cooking 2023 – FREE eCookbook

The Best of Closet Cooking Book Cover

eCookbook Bundle

eCookbook Bundle

Top Recipes

Chicken and Avocado Burritos
Ham and Potato Corn Chowder
Mexican Street Corn Nachos
Balsamic Garlic Grilled Mushroom Skewers
Baked Firecracker Chicken
Caprese Balsamic Grilled Chicken
Balsamic Soy Roasted Garlic Mushrooms
Cheesy Beef Enchilada Tortellini Skillet
Parmesan Roasted Carrot Fries
Asiago Roasted Onions
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
About | Contact Us | Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy
Copyright © 2007-2023, Closet Cooking Ltd. All Rights Reserved.