What makes a dish really tasty good?  Where in the process of prepareing a dish does the magic happen? How can I take a small handful of ingredients of a meal and gussey them up so that I’m smakin my lips and looking for seconds?  Well, here at The well seasoned athlete its time to reveal the secrets. And to be honest, its one part ingredient selection, one part technique and one part intuition.

Ingredients-  Typically I begin preparing lunch, dinner or what have you with some ingredient starting point.  It might be a vegetable, might be a super da kine slab of fish or a great looking cut of grass-fed beef from here in NorCal.  Curiously most of my fellow chefs agree that the starting point when composing menus is a particular ingredient which screams “use me, first!”  Its wicked fresh, speaks of incredible integrity or excits in some way.  Other parts of the menu or dish fall into place after that.  The fridge yields a bag of dino kale, some locally grown almonds.  The pantry holds a spice or two which I’ve been dying to try out.  On this day I happened to have two previously prepared items that were just waiting for the right moment to show their stuff.  One thing to keep in mind is that its okay to enhance an ingredient or two.  Here I’ll show you how.

Technique and Intuition–  Let’s dig into a recent dish I prepared and see how it works. Seared Ahi Tuna, Udon with Mustard Greens, Soy Glaze, Gingerd Carrrots  (serves 2 people)

Here is the line up of ingredients.   Places where we will build flavor will be a. marinade for tuna; b. a light seasoning of the noodles prior to plating; c.tangy salad to accompany the dish and be a foil for the other flavors and textures; d. saucy type thing to hit the tuna with that keeps the taste buds wanting another bite. 

•  12 oz Ahi Tuna (it can be in one or two pieces)
• 6 oz Udon Noodles (dried in package ) (note: keep in mind that noodles of almost any kind will double in weight after cooking. So if you’re looking for more carbs then just measure up)
• 3 oz Young Mustard Greens or Spinach (fresh only )
• 4 oz Carrot, (peeled)
• 3 oz Cauliflower or Green Cabbage
• 1/2 oz pickled ginger (or 1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger grated fine mixed with 2 Tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1/4 cup Soy (reduced sodium version is ok) mixed with 1 Tablespoon honey, 2 teaspoons rice vinegar, 2 teaspoons hot sauce (your call on brand)

First place for magic: seasoning the fish.  Salt.  After that you can be creative.  Options include, cracked black pepper, chili flakes, zest of lemon or lime ( or combination of), minced garlic, sesame seeds, spice blends such as a North African or Vindaloo work well.  One key is not to get all carried away and throw everything at it.  If its a citrus flavor you are looking for just use the pepper, chile and garlic.  If its the Vindaloo or Indian spice flavors go with the garlic and pepper.  When you use a mix of fresh or dried herbs stick with garlic, pepper and a little citrus zest  . 

It was decided that this dish was going include some Udon noodles, simply prepared by boiling. Easy enough, 9 minutes in boiling water, drain.

But here we can add a “behind the scenes” flavor by tossing with a two teaspoons of soy, two teaspoons of oil (olive or saflower), a dash of sesame oil and dash of hot sauce.  A light hand is needed here.  This is only to season the noodles, not make a sauce.  You’ll hardly taste it but the flavor is there and helps set up the palate for the rest of the dish.

Next, the young mustard greens or spinach.  Texture wise we have big flavored but sexy, soft tuna happening, silky noodles, a crunchy, tangy salad lurking ahead.  Traditionally this would call for a wilted or boiled vegetable like our greens.  Fresh flavor, fresh texture but soft and somewhat similar to the noodles.  The greens provide essential nutients, a vibrant color contrast but don’t fight the other elements of the dish.  All we do is give the greens a light steaming for 1 minute. Uncover and leave on the stove off the heat until ready to plate.

Now for the crunchy, tangy salad I mentioned above.  Shredded carrot mixed with chopped up raw cauliflower (or cabbage).  To get this right shred the carrots small.  You can use a box grater, the shredder blade of a food processor (Cuisinart) or a Japanese mandolin.

The cauliflower is just sliced thinly.  No need to make it pretty, its going to fall apart anyway and the thinner the better since it won’t be getting cooked.  (if you end up using cabbage give it the same treatment as the carrots)

pickled ginger I put up last month

Mix the carrots and cauliflower in a bowl and add 2 Tablespoons of chopped pickled ginger and 2 Tablespooons of the pickled ginger vinegar. Allow the salad to sit for 10 minutes before serving  ( Now don’t worry.  If don’t have pickled ginger then simply grate 1/2 teaspoon of fresh ginger and toss with 2 Tablespoons of rice vinegar.  Let sit for a few minutes before mixing into the salad.)

Now its time to pull this together.This is where Intuition comes into play. Timing is important.  Which order do cook everything?

1. Marinade Tuna.
2. Prepare Carrot Salad.
3. Reduce soy, honey, vinegar, hot sauce mix to a glaze. (takes only about 2 minutes in a small non-stick pan)
4. Steam greens.
5. Boil noodles.
6. Cook the Tuna (this can happen while the noodles are in the pot cooking.
7. Toss Noodles and Greens together with seasonings.
8. Slice Tuna, plate up the noodles, garnish with sauce and salad.

Bingo!

Nutrition Facts Serving Size  (466g) Servings Per Container

Amount Per Serving Calories 720    Calories from Fat 160    % Daily Value Total Fat 18 g 28 %  Saturated Fat 3 g 15 %  Trans Fat 0 g    Cholesterol 65 mg 22 %  Sodium 1780 mg 74 %  Total Carbohydrate 80 g 27 %  Dietary Fiber 9 g 36 %  Sugars 12 g    Protein 57 g

Vitamin A   350 %  Vitamin C   90 %  Calcium   10 %  Iron   30 %