Joe's 30th Birthday- Thai themed!

It was Joe's birthday yesterday and he just wanted to stay in and cook a nice meal.... or have me cook him a nice meal. Which of course I obliged. He chose a Tuna dish out of his favorite cookbook, Tom Douglas' Seattle Kitchen. He is one of Joe's favorite Chefs, from the Seattle area. He does mostly seafood and usually with an asian/thai twist.

The cookbook

We've made his short ribs with rosemary cannellini beans that were to die for! So we figured another one was worth a shot. I don't recommend any of Chef Tom's recipes for the beginner cook, as most recipes are complicated and a process. This dish however, was pretty easy. Highly recommend, although I wish the curry sauce had thickened a bit more....

Tom Douglas' Wok- Seared Albacore Tuna with Coconut Curry
(makes 2 servings)
I don't have wok, so I just did this in a large saucepan on very high heat.


1 bunch cilantro
For the curry sauce:
1 13 1/2 oz can coconut milk (approx 1 3/4 cups)
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup mirin or sweet sake
1 tbsp asian fish sauce
1 tbsp Thai red curry paste
1 tsp asian sour shrimp paste or 1 tsp lime (I used lime and it was great, even though you can pretty much find anything in NYC)
For the dish:
3 tbsp peanut oil
1/2 lb albacore tuna, cut into 2x1/2 inch strips (I used whatever red tuna Whole Foods has, no clue if it was albacore or not)
1 1/2 cups Japanese eggplant cut into 1/4 inch strips
1 1/2 cups Napa cabbage, cut into 1 inch ribbons
1/2 cup zucchini, cut into 1/4 inch thick 
1/2 cup seeded red bell pepper, cut into 1/2 inch thick slices
1/3 cup peeled carrots, cut into 1/8 inch slices
2 lime wedges
Steamed rice


Pick off 1/4 cup of the cilantro leaves and set aside.


To make the curry sauce, combine remaining cilantro leaves and stems, the coconut milk, chicken stock, mirin, fish sauce, curry paste, and sour shrimp paste or lime juice in a medium saucepan.
Bring to a simmer, cover, and barely simmer for 30 minutes. (I did about 40 minutes and still couldn't get the sauce thicker- maybe some flour next time?)
Strain through a fine-mesh strainer, you should have about 1 1/2 cups sauce.


Heat wok (or saucepan) on high heat with 2 tbsp of peanut oil.
When the oil is smoking, add the sliced tuna and sear briefly, tossing, about 1 minute.
The tuna should still be rare. Remove from pan and set aside.
Add remaining peanut oil to wok or pan, put in eggplant, cabbage, bell pepper, and carrots, and stir fry for 4 minutes.
Add the curry sauce and the tuna and simmer for 1-2 minutes.


Serve the tuna and curry sauce over the rice and garnish with cilantro leaves and lime wedges.

Excited about the tuna

Everything all combined and simmering away

We had it with a lovely Chardonnay from Italy, but it also suggests a Pinot Gris from Oregon.

Topped off the lovely meal with the dessert Vin Santo we brought back from San Gimignano, Italy