THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO SOUS VIDE TUNA

Wprowadzenie

Sous Vide Tuna Basics

Sous vide takes the guesswork out of cooking tuna perfectly every time; picking the right temperature gives you fully customizable and repeatable results. Cooking tuna sous vide allows you to achieve a variety of textures that you cannot achieve with any other method.

Rather than cold and raw in the center, you can serve tuna that’s heated just to the point where it starts to firm up, giving it an even meatier bite, but still maintaining a gorgeous deep red, translucent color and moist texture. Sous vide is also a great way to prepare tuna to be served near-raw, sashimi style, or to be used in recipes where you’d typically use canned tuna, giving you better texture and flavor than any canned options.

Traditional sous vide tuna consists of an easy, two-phase cooking process:

1. Uszczelnienie the fish in a plastic bag and gotowanie do pożądanej temperatury końcowej w łaźni wodnej o kontrolowanej temperaturze.
   1. The temperature of the sous vide bath during the initial cooking phase is what determines the final texture of the fish.
2. Browning the tuna to develop color, flavor, and textural contrast if desired.

If you’d prefer to introduce new sous vide techniques into your arsenal, you can also use the Anova Precision™ Oven to prepare sous vide tuna. Because of the way we’ve designed the temperature sensors and humidity control, the oven will precisely maintain the cooking temperature you set.

You can choose to cook your tuna low and slow in the Precision™ Oven just as you would with a Precision® Cooker, or you can use the oven’s food probe to tell you exactly when the core of your tuna has hit your desired temp.

Just like traditional sous vide, using Sous Vide Mode in the Anova Precision™ Oven typically is a two-stage cooking process: First, bring the tuna to your desired internal temperature, then brown it on the stove if desired.

Many types of tuna are dangerously overfished and we strongly advise doing some research on the type of tuna you are buying before purchase. The Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program is a great place to start. They have a website and an app that you can pull up on your phone while you’re at the fish counter.

When buying tuna, we like to shop for thicker steaks at least 1 ½ to 2 inches thick. Thicker steaks will give you a better ratio of rare internal meat and seared exterior. With thin steaks, you run a serious risk of overcooking, even with the brief searing time that sous vide typically requires. The general rule of thumb for tuna is that it’s better to serve a single larger steak to every two diners than it is to serve individual thinner steaks.

You don’t need a vacuum sealer for sous vide tuna, and in fact we wouldn’t recommend using one. The powerful suction of a vacuum sealer can put pressure on the soft fish flesh, leaving it dented and misshapen. Because of its short cooking time and low temperature, a regular zipper-lock bag will work fine. To seal a zipper lock bag, use the water displacement method. It’s fast, efficient, and custom-made for situations like this.

To do it, simply place your food in a plastic bag and seal the bag almost all the way, leaving about an inch open. Slowly lower the bag into a tub of water, holding the opened end above the water level. As the bag lowers, the water pressure should force air out of the bag. Just before it completely submerges, seal the bag completely and you’re ready to cook.

Temperatura i czas

Unlike flaky fishes like salmon and cod that turn firm and flake but still maintain some moisture at higher temperatures, tuna is extremely susceptible to overcooking. Think: well-done beef steaks.

And even more than beef, that transformation happens very rapidly. At 115°F (46°C), tuna is still quite moist and translucent. A mere 5°F higher, at 120°F (49°C), it’ll be as firm and dry as a well-done steak. At even higher temperatures (130°F (54°C) and above), as connective tissue breaks down more, you end up with a texture that is similar to canned tuna — chalky and crumbly — and tuna cooked that hot should be treated as such. (Make sure to add plenty of fat in the form of olive oil or mayonnaise when serving it.)

We personally like tuna at three different temperatures: 105°F (41°C) for a texture that is similar to sashimi, but slightly firmer; 115°F (46°C) where the flesh remains moist but has firmed up to a texture similar to rare beef, but more tender; and 130°F (54°C) where the tuna will taste like the most delicious canned tuna you’ve ever had.

• Nearly raw with slight firming: 105°F (41°C)

• Very moist and just-firmed: 110°F (43°C)

• Meaty and moist: 115°F (46°C)

• Firm and dry like a well-done steak: 120°F (49°C)

• Dry, firm, and crumbly: 130°F (54°C)

For timing, there’s no need to leave tuna in a water bath for longer than it takes to just cook through — a half hour to 45 minutes is plenty for one-inch steaks, and 45 minutes to an hour for steaks up to two inches thick.

Tradycyjne Sous Vide

We do not recommend sous vide express for tuna.

Sous Vide Tuna, Step by Step

Krok 1

Season the fish on all sides generously with salt and pepper.

Krok 2

If bagging, place the fish portions in a single layer inside one or more zipper-lock bags. Add a couple teaspoons of olive oil per fillet to each bag along with some gentle aromatics like thinly sliced garlic and/or thyme sprigs. Do not add large chunks of food that can damage the shape of the fish, or acidic ingredients that damage the texture. Once bagged, close the bag and let the fish rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes and up to overnight for the salt to firm up the flesh.

If cooking without a bag in the Anova Precision™ Oven, place the seasoned fish on a rimmed sheet pan, cover, and refrigerate as written above.

Krok 3

Attach a Precision® Cooker to a water bath and heat to your desired final doneness temperature or preheat the Precision™ Oven to your desired temperature.

Krok 4

If cooking using traditional sous vide methods, remove all the air from the bag using the water displacement method, then add the fish to the preheated water bath.

Krok 5

If cooking in the Anova Precision™ Oven, place the fish on a sheet pan. Insert the probe if desired. Place in the oven.

Krok 6

Cook according to the time and temp for your desired level of doneness.

Kroki końcowe

Carefully remove the fish from the bag or the sheet pan using your hands or a fish spatula. Place it on a double layer of paper towels, then use another paper towel to gently blot the surface dry. Discard any aromatics at this point. The fish can be chilled and served as-is or finished on the stove.

Krok 1

Season the tuna with a little (or a lot) more freshly ground black pepper, or roll it in sesame seeds or other seasonings of your choice.

Krok 2

Heat a tablespoon of oil in a heavy skillet over high heat until lightly smoking.

Krok 3

Carefully add the tuna and cook without moving until browned, 30 to 45 seconds. Carefully flip the tuna and sear the second side. Using tongs, lift the tuna and hold it sideways to sear the edges all around.

Krok 4

Transfer the tuna to a paper towel to blot off excess oil. Serve.

A Closer Look at Seasoning Sous Vide Tuna

Some recipes for sous vide tuna recommend soaking it in a salt water brine before cooking in order to season it more deeply and to give it a denser, firmer texture. We tried cooking a few pieces of tuna side by side:

• Plain
• Soaked in a liquid salt and sugar brine
• Soaked in a plain salt brine
• Rubbed (dry-brined) with salt and sugar
• Rubbed (dry-brined) with salt alone

For the brined and dry-brined tuna, we tested various brining lengths ranging from 15 minutes up to overnight. We cooked each sample of tuna sous vide at two different temperatures — 105°F (41°C) and 115°F (46°C) — for 45 minutes and then tasted it.

The difference is noticeable, with both the tuna that was water-brined and dry-brined coming out with a firmer, better seasoned, and overall more pleasant flesh. Without any brine, tuna at lower temperatures is relatively bland, even if seasoned right before serving. At higher temperatures, it will taste dry and chalky. With brine, low-temperature tuna has a smooth, buttery texture and at higher temperatures it’s still dry, but not nearly as dry as the un-brined samples.

We found the sugar in the brine to be distracting, though if you like the added sweetness, there’s no harm in it. We prefer dry-brining to water-brining for the sake of convenience: All you have to do is salt your tuna, seal it in a bag, then let it rest before cooking. Half an hour seems to be the magic number where you get a strong brining effect but still keep things moving along in time for dinner.

When cooking things like steak or chicken, we typically don’t add extra fat to the bag — all it does is dilute flavor by removing fat-soluble flavor compounds. With tuna, on the other hand, we do.

Not only does tuna flesh absorb flavor better than land animal meat, but the fat also helps distribute the flavor of any aromatics added to the bag. If you’re cooking more than one piece in a single bag, fat will also help keep the individual steaks from sticking together.

A Closer Look at Finishing Sous Vide Tuna

There are two great options for finishing and serving sous vide tuna.

If you want to go the canned-tuna-texture route, you can take your tuna cooked to 130°F (54°C) and use it in any recipe where you’d use canned tuna, whether it’s tuna salad, or stirred into pasta dishes like tuna noodle casserole or spaghetti puttanesca.

However you coat your tuna, the important thing is using very high heat to sear. Your goal is to color the exterior while minimizing the amount of additional cooking you do to the interior. This means using a little oil in a ripping-hot heavy pan. Because of their weight, cast iron or carbon steel are great for searing.

Sous vide tuna is great served cold. At 105°F (41°C), you can slice it and serve it like sashimi, though it will have a unique texture all its own. Try brushing it with a little soy sauce and extra-virgin olive oil, and sprinkling it with some coarse sea salt for a simple, delicious hors d’oeuvre.

If you want to go the canned-tuna-texture route, you can take your tuna cooked to 130°F (54°C) and use it in any recipe where you’d use canned tuna, whether it’s tuna salad, or stirred into pasta dishes like tuna noodle casserole or spaghetti puttanesca.