Back when my restaurant was open, we would order at least 30 pounds of ahi tuna a day, sometimes more on busy days. We would cut enough for four or five dishes depending on the menu at that time.
The Japanese have a term, “mottainai,” which normally refers to waste but, to me, always means to not waste anything, to use everything. As you can imagine, after trimming and portioning all the tuna into the steaks, blocks and cubes we needed, we accumulated a lot of trim.
I love leftovers and unused product from the day before because it almost forces me to come up with something to use it up and not waste. It’s like looking in the refrigerator to see what you have and making a meal from that. When you want to be creative, being hungry helps.
One day, I took some ground ahi tuna and made ahi chili with it. Everything is the same except it’s not beef, it’s tuna. The most important things are to have a really hot pan, to not overcrowd the pan and to give the ahi a good sear. The meat should brown. If you do this, you will notice a great aroma of caramelized fish, similar to nicely seared hamburger in the pan.
When the pan is not hot enough or is overcrowded, the meat boils and the air will smell of blood cooking. At minimum, it will not be appetizing. A really hot, uncrowded pan and a good sear also makes the fish less fishy. Sprinkling sake or fresh lemon juice over the raw tuna before cooking also helps take away some of the fishiness. Once the ahi chili was made, I brought out another pan to saute chunks of fresh shrimp and scallops. Then, I added the ahi chili to that pan and this became the base for another dish, seafood nachos.
Another day, I took my meatball recipe and replaced the ground beef with ground ahi tuna. The first time I made the beef meatball recipe it was a 1:1:1:1 ratio of ground beef, pork, Parmesan cheese and panko moistened with a little milk and seasonings. The tuna version was two parts ground tuna and one part each of Parmesan and moistened panko. The panko mixture made it lighter and more moist, versus firm and dry. I also browned the meatballs in the oven versus frying them in a pan. I added a little chicken broth to the bottom of the pan; the liquid was absorbed into the meatballs while they’re browning on the top.
One of the first people I fed an ahi meatball to was Franco Harris, the Pro Football Hall of Fame running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was nicknamed the “Italian Stallion.” He was part Italian and he loved Italian food. He didn’t know he was eating tuna meatballs. He thought he was just eating meatballs in a tomato sauce. He was surprised and told me he wanted another one so I guess it passed. These ahi meatballs are also great with pasta like spaghetti and meatballs or simply added to a hot tomato soup.
Once you get this down, be as creative as possible. The biggest challenge will be getting rid of the fish smell so that no one can tell it’s fish.
This is not about using up tuna when it’s almost bad. Use fresh, good-quality tuna and you will get a good product. Tombo is albacore tuna, also called the chicken of the sea. It’s less expensive than yellowfin tuna and might be a good product to start with if you want to try making this. It will appear lighter in color than the yellowfin tuna when cooked.
As Michael Jordan once said, “I’ve missed 9,000 shots in my career, I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeeded.”
I’m not comparing myself to Michael Jordan, but I have failed many times in the kitchen in order to learn what doesn’t work and, once in a while, I’ll come up with something I really like and hope that you do, too.
We all know about chicken meatballs, turkey and even fish balls, but using ground fresh tuna in place of ground beef or pork as a meatball seems like a good idea for a cooked alternative to raw ahi dishes in Hawai‘i. I do love poke and sashimi, but I also love variety and creativity.
In most households, there is always a favorite chili, meatloaf or meatball recipe that Mom, Dad, Auntie or Grandma made. Try this one. Besides, fish is a lot healthier!
