Ahi à la Nobu

Obviously if you've ever eaten at Nobu then you know what I'm talking about. He is often an inspiration for me in the kitchen because of his refined, delicate sauces and approach to food.

I took a piece of ahi filet I got at the Japanese market, covered it with black pepper, and then seared it QUICKLY. That means like 15 seconds max in a hot skillet on each side just to get the very ends cooked as you can see in the picture. Then I sliced it uber-uber-thin at an angle so I could roll it up into nice little rolls.

My sauce is a ponzu-esque sauce. I used soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, and yuzu juice, then I flavored it with cilantro and jalapeño. I then strained the sauce so it would be clear but added some fresh cilantro and jalapeño to the center of the plate. SO GOOD!

Spicy Tuna Temaki

Yum. I love spicy tuna tamaki (handrolls) when they're made at home. I don't like them in sushi restaurants though for some reason. The good news is they're so easy to make. When you're buying your nori, you should see special temaki sized nori. They may be listed as "half sheets."

To prepare, line up your sushi rice, spicy tuna mix (for spicy tuna mix, see Spicy Hamachi Gunkan-Zushi), julienned cucumber, and a bowl of water (you should mix white vinegar in the water to kill bacteria but it isn't necessary).

Hold the temaki in your left hand *rough side up*, and with your wet right hand, clump up some rice in a golf ball size. Stick it in the far left middle, flatten it a bit, put on some cucumber and spicy tuna, then roll it by wrapping the bottom left corner over and rolling it in a spiral fashion. Use a little piece of rice smushed to hold the end of the nori to the handroll. It takes practice. Mine obviously aren't perfect.

* TIP! To keep your temaki from getting soggy, fan it over a flame to crisp it a bit before making your roll.