Seared Tuna with Sesame Bok Choy and Rice

Ingredients

• 4 tuna steaks, about 180g each
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 4 tbsp sesame seeds (mixed black and white if possible)
• 1 tbsp neutral oil
• 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 30g fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
• 3 garlic cloves, finely sliced
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 4 bok choy, halved lengthways
• 3 tbsp tamari
• 1 tbsp neutral oil
• 300g jasmine rice, rinsed
• 1 fresh red chilli, finely sliced into rings
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 3 tbsp tamari
• 1 lime, juice only
• 4 spring onions, green tops finely sliced on the diagonal, to serve
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds, to serve
• 2 limes, cut into wedges, to serve
• Quick pickled cucumber, to serve
• Miso soup, to serve
• Steamed edamame, lightly salted, to serve

Method

1. Put the rinsed jasmine rice in a saucepan with 450ml cold water and a pinch of salt. Bring to the boil, then cover tightly, drop the heat to its lowest setting and cook for 12 minutes until the water is absorbed. Pull off the heat and leave to steam, lid on, for 5 minutes — this is what gives you separate, glossy grains rather than a sticky clump.
2. While the rice cooks, stir the dipping sauce together in a small bowl: tamari, sesame oil, sliced chilli, and the lime juice. Taste it — it should be sharp, salty and hot in roughly that order. Set aside.
3. Spread the sesame seeds out on a plate. Brush each tuna steak with the sesame oil and season generously on both sides with salt and pepper — tuna is dense and needs more salt than you think. Press the steaks firmly into the sesame seeds to coat all over.
4. Heat the neutral oil in a stainless or cast-iron pan over a high heat until it shimmers and is just starting to smoke. Lay the tuna in — work in two batches if your pan is anything less than huge, because crowding drops the heat and you'll steam the seeds instead of toasting them. Sear for 90 seconds per side until the crust is deep golden and the fish is still ruby-pink in the centre. Transfer to a board to rest.
5. Wipe the pan clean with kitchen paper and return to a high heat with the second tablespoon of neutral oil. Lay the bok choy cut-side down in a single layer and leave it alone for 2 minutes until the cut faces are properly charred and caramelised — if you fidget with it, you don't get the colour.
6. Add the sliced garlic and grated ginger and stir for 30 seconds, no more, until fragrant and pale gold. Burnt garlic turns the whole pan bitter, so watch it.
7. Pour in the tamari, sesame oil and a splash of rice wine vinegar. The pan will hiss — swirl everything together for about 60 seconds until the bok choy is glossy and just tender but still holding its shape, and the liquid has reduced into a proper pan sauce that coats the leaves rather than pooling. Taste a leaf — the tamari carries most of the salt, but adjust now if it needs a final pinch.
8. Fluff the rice with a fork and divide between four bowls. Slice each tuna steak against the grain in 1cm strips — you'll see the seared crust, then a thin grey band, then the pink centre.
9. Lay the bok choy alongside the rice, fan the tuna over the top, and spoon any sauce left in the pan over the leaves.
10. Spoon the chilli-lime dipping sauce over the tuna, scatter the spring onion greens and toasted sesame seeds across each bowl, and squeeze a lime wedge over the fish just before it goes to the table. Serve the pickled cucumber, miso soup and edamame alongside.