Unlikely Words

Pasta. Chili. Stews. More pasta. Leftover chili.

Oy. I’m full just remembering. It was time for a change. Something lighter. Something healthier. Something impressive and yet easy. And then it came to me: ceviche. Tuna ceviche, to be precise, since we hadn’t had tuna in a long while. The ceviche ingredients (avocado, cucumber, tomato, red onion, limes) had already been purchased, and I planned to swing by the store on the way home from work for the freshest possible tuna.

And then I saw it. Sitting there in the fish case, calling to me — taunting me, almost — coyly, seductively, irresistably: Ultrafrozen sushi grade tuna.

Ultra. Frozen. Sushi. Grade. Tuna.

Yes, yes, it was $20/pound. But dammit, I’m worth it. And we only needed about half a pound. So, into the cart it went, and out the window went the plans for ceviche. It would have been a crime to cook or even marinate this tuna. No, it had to be enjoyed as it was, and since I didn’t feel like buying nori and don’t trust my ability to make rice, that meant no sushi, but rather “sashimi.”

(I’m putting sashimi in quotes because I don’t think I can presume to say that what I actually ended up making was really sashimi, and I have this fear of an authentic Japanese chef seeing this and shaking their head in dismay. Or, like, of Iron Chef Morimoto jumping into his monitor, out of mine, and pummeling me to death. He could do it, too.)

By the way, guess what happens when your cats get a whiff of the Ultrafrozen sushi grade tuna you brought home?

Once the cats were shooed, I still had to do some fancy thinkin’. The greens upon which the ceviche was to sit became a simple salad with a Japanese-inflected sesame vinaigrette: sesame oil, rice vinegar, salt, pepper, wasabi powder. The other ingredients got chopped and made into a ceviche-without-the-fish salad: diced avocado, roma tomato, red onion, cilantro, lime juice. (Sadly, I made this last week and can’t remember exactly the proprotions.)

I had a spare avocado, and I had this idea originally that I could make some kind of a dressing using the avocado instead of oil, but it ended up being way too thick. So, change of plans: an avocado, plenty of lime juice, some rice vinegar, a tablespoon of soy sauce, and a dash of wasabi powder went into the blender, and came out as a smooth and tasty paste. I spread a teaspoon or so of it on the plate, and laid the slices of tuna on top. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and scallions for garnish, and we had something that, even it if isn’t authentic, was delicious.

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