[Recipe] Tuna Cheek

A couple of weeks back, the Soshinsen team had the opportunity to experiment cooking with a series of Tuna cuts that are not as “mainstream”. These cuts included meat from the Cheek, Collar and the Eye Muscle. While they may sound squeamish, these cuts had such extraordinary flavours and we had such a fun time cooking them all. 

You will need:

1. Tuna cheek – 1 pcs
2. Lemon juice – 1/2 teaspoon
3. A pinch of salt
4. Garlic – 2 cloves
5. Salted Butter – 1/3 of a stick 

Steps:

1. In its frozen state, give the Tuna Cheek a quick rinse under running water.
2. Optional: 5 to 10 min soak in some saline water (30g for every 1000ml of water). This is typically done for Ootoro, Chutoro and Akami cuts intended for consumption as sashimi.
3. Marinate the Tuna Cheek with Salt and a squeeze of Lemon juice
4. Taking a flat surface (such as your knife), smash the garlic cloves. Bring your pan to a low heat, add in the butter and smashed Garlic. This helps draw out the flavour from the Garlic without being too difficult to remove later on.
5. Add the marinated Tuna Cheek to the pan, and cook on medium heat for approximately 4 minutes on each side. Time would differ slightly depending on the thickness of your piece.
6. Plate up and enjoy!