Canarian · Starter · From the menu Huerta

Tuna, ponzu, avocado

Atún, ponzu, aguacate

Local tuna cut to order and dressed at the last moment in a ponzu made with island citrus, over avocado. The cleanest thing on the menu and the one with the least room for error.

Serves
Six as a starter
Prep
20 min
Cook
5 min
Cuisine
Canarian

There is nowhere to hide in this dish. The fish has to be good and it has to be cut on the night, because tuna dressed early goes grey and weeps. Make the ponzu the day before so the kombu and katsuobushi have time, then do everything else in the four minutes before it goes to the table.

Ingredients

  • 600 g sashimi-grade tuna loin, in one piece
  • 2 ripe avocados
  • For the ponzu: 100 ml light soy sauce
  • 60 ml lemon juice and 40 ml orange juice, both fresh
  • 60 ml mirin
  • 10 g katsuobushi (bonito flakes)
  • 1 postcard-sized piece of kombu
  • 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
  • 2 spring onions, sliced on a steep angle
  • Toasted sesame seeds and a little fresh chilli

Method

  1. Make the ponzu at least a day ahead: warm the mirin to burn off the alcohol, take it off the heat, then add the soy, the juices, the kombu and the katsuobushi. Cool, refrigerate overnight, then strain and discard the solids.
  2. Keep the tuna wrapped and very cold until the moment you cut it. Trim off any sinew and the darker bloodline.
  3. Cut the loin against the grain into slices about 6 mm thick, using one long draw of the knife per slice rather than sawing.
  4. Slice the avocado thinly and lay it down first, seasoned with salt and a squeeze of lemon.
  5. Lay the tuna over, spoon the ponzu on generously, then a few drops of sesame oil.
  6. Finish with the spring onion, sesame seeds and chilli and take it straight out. It should not sit more than a minute.

Serve it with. Nothing warm. It is meant to arrive cold against whatever came off the fire before it.