Food

Holiday Recipe: Tuna Loin With Black Radish and Passionfruit Coulis From Blue Duck Tavern’s Sebastien Archambault

Dazzle guests with this simple yet lovely appetizer from BDT’s executive chef.

Cubes of tuna, black radish, and passionfruit coulis make for a lovely party app. Photograph by Andrew Propp.

Elegant, with gorgeous contrasting textures, this appetizer from chef Sebastien Archambault is a party showstopper. If you’ve never served raw tuna before, fear not. Just make sure you buy the very best fish: The market at BlackSalt is a great source for sashimi-grade seafood. Call first to make sure it’s in stock, and order ahead if you plan to serve the dish for a party.

If you feel like getting creative, try (gently!) skewering cubes and radish slices with a stick, then drizzling with the passionfruit coulis, or arranging ingredients on an hors d’oeuvres spoon. But no need to get fancy: The tuna cubes look great arranged on a platter atop the radish, too.

Sebastien Archambault’s Tuna Loin With Black Radish and Passionfruit Coulis

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

¼ pound grade-1 tuna loin
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 leaf nori seaweed, dried
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 pinches cayenne pepper
1 black radish, about 5 inches long
3 passionfruits
1 teaspoon sugar powder
1 pinch espelette pepper
1 pinch sea salt

Directions

Cut tuna loin into 1-inch-by-1-inch cubes. Place cubes in a bowl with soy sauce, cayenne pepper, and olive oil and allow to marinate for 20 minutes. Cut each passionfruit in half. Using a spoon, dig out the insides and empty into a bowl, discarding seeds and pulp. Pour passionfruit into a saucepan and boil to reduce by half. Add sugar, then bring to a boil again and cook until the texture is thick, like a coulis. Strain with a chinois to remove any leftover seeds, and press well to extract all of the pulp. Add pinch of espelette pepper. Allow to cool.

Clean the radish and slice into 12 very thin rounds. Gently submerge slices in a bowl of ice water and let rest for five minutes. Meanwhile, julienne the nori.

Remove radish slices from ice water and gently pat dry with a paper towel. Arrange slices on a presentation platter and place the tuna on top of them. Pour passionfruit coulis over the tuna, sprinkle with sea salt, and top with nori. Serve immediately.

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