Monday, September 2, 2013

The Battle of The Ahi Tuna Appetizer

I love the charred sashimi tuna that I use to get at Shaw’s Crab House in Chicago and I was on a mission to find it.

The recipe calls for starting with very fresh, sushi-grade ahi. You lightly sear the outside, leaving the inside raw. Yes, I did say raw. Don’t use a lower grade of fish for this recipe. The freshness and quality of the tuna is what makes the dish.

La Azotea has tuna that is served in a Jicama tortilla shell with fried leeks, mayo with chipotle and a tamarind sauce. 

The Restaurant on the other hand serves up a pepper crusted tuna tostado with avacado, crispy leeks and a chipotle crema.

Both were delicious and here’s how this competition shook out:

The Tuna: I like the ahi at The Restaurant as it was prepared more like a sashimi. It was raw. La Azotea’s was rare and I was not certain that theirs was even ahi grade.

The Base: Hands down La Azotea wins this category. Nothing beats the cool, refreshing taste of jicama.

The Sauce:The Restaurant wins this one as the crema was smoother and a bit more spicy than the mayo.

The Other Sauce: La Azotea takes the prize as the tamarind is what gives it all those distinct flavors and taste.

The Topping: Both dishes were topped with fried leeks. This was a tie. Also note that this is my new favorite toppings. I’ll use it on everything.

The Price: La Azotea was 40 pesos and The Restaurant was 135 pesos. This is a landslide for La Azotea. I thought that The Restaurants appetizer was a bit pricy although it was really filling.

The Added Ingredients: The Restaurant. The avocado make a great addition to the overall presentation and taste.

The Winner: A tie.

I hate ties but one was not exceptionally better than the other.

Both dishes are an excellent choice when you’re not really hungry for a big meal. 

That’s most of the time for me.

Buen Apetito!