Tuna with Ginger Greens & Crispy Rice

Ingredients

• 250g jasmine rice, rinsed
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 4 tuna steaks
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 lime, cut into wedges
• 25g ginger, grated
• 2 garlic cloves, grated
• 2 pak choi, thickly sliced
• 100g spinach
• 3 spring onions, finely sliced
• 0.5 tsp chilli flakes
• salt and black pepper to taste
• Dressed green salad, to serve
• Fresh dill, to serve

Method

1. Cook the jasmine rice in well-salted water until tender, drain, then spread it out on a tray to steam off for a few minutes. Drier rice fries up far crisper — water on the surface means steam, and steam means no crunch.
2. Heat the sesame oil in a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and press the rice into the base in an even layer. Leave it alone for 7 to 8 minutes — you want a steady sizzle, the edges turning amber, and a deep golden crust forming underneath. Don't be tempted to stir.
3. While the rice crisps, rub the tuna steaks with the soy sauce and a generous grind of black pepper. Season with a pinch of salt too — the soy carries most of it, but a pinch of salt on the surface helps the sear.
4. Get a heavy stainless or cast iron pan smoking hot. Sear the tuna in two batches if your pan is small — don't crowd it, or the steaks will steam instead of catching that proper seared crust. 30 to 60 seconds per side, no more: you want colour outside, ruby pink within. Lift onto a board to rest.
5. Drop the heat to medium and use the same tuna pan for the greens — those browned bits in the base are flavour. Add the ginger and garlic and cook for 30 seconds, just until fragrant and pale gold. Don't let the garlic burn; it turns bitter the second it goes past golden and will take the whole dish with it.
6. Tip in the pak choi and spinach with a splash of water to loosen the fond, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes until the leaves are just wilted and the stems still have bite. Stir through the spring onions and chilli flakes. Taste, season with salt and pepper, taste again — adjust now, not at the table.
7. Break the crispy rice into rough shards. Slice the tuna across the grain. Plate the rice shards, pile the ginger greens alongside, lay the tuna over the top, and serve with lime wedges — a squeeze of lime over the tuna at the table cuts through the soy and lifts the whole plate.