Bourbon marinade for tuna

Fresh tuna steaks can become dry if cooked for a long time. The answer is either to cook them for a short time, searing the outside and leaving the inside rare, or to douse them liberally with marinade whilst cooking them over a slow smoky fire. The flavour of American bourbon whisky goes well with smoke.

Ingredients

• Four tuna steaks (or approximately 1 kg of fish)
• 150-200ml bourbon
• 150-200ml stock (1 stock cube dissolved in small cup of water)
• 2 cloves garlic, grated or chopped
• 50 ml vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon green peppercorns, if you can get them

Mix everything together and let the fish marinade in the mixture for around 2 hours in the refrigerator. Prepare a charcoal fire in a closable, mesh-bedded barbecue or hibachi and allow it to burn down to a glow. Meanwhile, remove the tuna from the marinade. Discard most of the marinade but reserve around 200 ml and boil it over a high heat to reduce the volume. Sear the tuna steaks quickly on both sides in a hot frying pan, drizzle the reduced marinade over them and transfer to the barbecue. Add your favourite smoke-producing substance to the glowing charcoals (Casuarina or ironwood does a good job in New Caledonia, and is available near most beaches) and close the lid. Smoke for 40-60 minutes. Turn the steaks after 10-15 minutes and drizzle a bit more of the reduced marinade over them, if you want.

Tim Adams
Noumea, 2000

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