WanderSups: Why tuna tostadas are food of the gods

“Crunchy base, the freshest fish, a bit of punch - nail those three and you have a mouthful worthy of the gods.” Velvet’s resident recipe writer Hannah Gregory shares the secrets to making her signature tuna tostadas, two ways

Tuna tostadas are an institution in Mexico and Southern California. They adorn menus across the land and every restaurant seems to have their own version, but the fundamentals are the same: soft, rich tuna, crispy tortilla and, more often than not, a dollop of creamy, savoury avocado.

Beyond this I have seen additions of crispy onions, habanero oils, microgreens etc etc, but the key components must remain the same. Crunchy base, the freshest fish, a bit of punch - nail those three and you have a mouthful worthy of the gods.

Tostada translates as toast in Spanish - toasted tortilla. Thought to have originated in Oaxaca, tostadas were a way to use up stale tortillas; either baked or deep fried to a golden crisp, it was a way of giving a new lease of life to food past its best.

Typically the tuna will be diced and served raw or very lightly cured in lime juice which is why it is important to use the freshest fish you can - I try to use sushi grade wherever possible.

I appreciate raw fish isn’t everyone's cup of tea and it wasn’t mine for a very long time, so I came up with an alternative that sees the tuna seared before slicing - the fish should still be served blushing in the middle, we’re talking a flash fry on either side. This ‘cooked’ version leans on some Asian flavours, resulting in a little bit of fusion cooking and the results are wonderful. Trust.

Both recipes below make four large tostadas or eight small and my accompanying tipple of choice would be a really bloody good chardonnay.

Traditionally they would be served as one piece - a tostada of about 10cm wide makes for the perfect starter. Alternatively you can use a small biscuit cutter to cut out discs from the tortilla before frying and then top with your chosen tuna to create the best canapes.

I like to decorate my plates with a ‘sun’ of chipotle crema because I am extra and my private dining clients seem to love it. You can of course forgo turning your sauce into art and drizzle it over the tostada like a normal person; just be warned, this sauce packs a punch so drizzle with caution.

I also use pre-made tortillas - I know, the horror of it all - but through many, many, MANY tried and tested methods, for me they just result in a better crunch. Call me a heathen, I’ll take it.

As always, I get my Mexican ingredients from coolchile.co.uk or mexgrocer.co.uk and if we could make sure we are buying pole and line sustainably caught tuna, that would be great. Thanks for coming to my Ted talk.

Sesame Seared Tuna Tostada with Chipotle Crema, Avo Puree & Burnt Onions

What you need:

4 corn tortillas

1 heaped tbsp miso paste

2 tuna steaks, approx 2cm thick

4 tbsp sesame seeds

4 spring onions

2 tbsp mayo

1 tbsp sour cream

2 limes

Pinch of salt

2 chipotles in adobo (from a can)

1 ripe avocado

4 spring onions

4 shallots

Oil for frying.

How you do it:

1. First make your burnt onion dust, this will result in more than you need but can be kept in an airtight container and used for a garnish on a multitude of things. Peel and slice the shallots and place on a foil lined tray and put under a hot grill. Keep an eye on them, they should take 15 to 20 minutes and need to be black all the way through and completely dry.

2. Allow to cool and then blitz to a powder in a spice grinder. You can also do this in a pestle and mortar and then sieve out any larger lumps. Either way, you are looking for an end result of a super-fine dust.

3. To make your crema, blitz your adobos to a paste - again, you can do this in a pestle and mortar with a bit of elbow grease - and then pass through a sieve removing any seeds. You should be left with a smooth puree.

4. Add the mayo, sour cream and juice of one lime to the puree’d adobo and combine. Pour into a squeezy bottle and refrigerate until needed.

5. Blitz the avo and juice of the remaining lime until smooth. If more liquid is needed, add a touch more lime juice. You are looking for a smooth puree.

6. Heat a saucepan of oil to 180°C.

7. Carefully lower the tortillas into the oil and allow to fry until golden and crisp – about three to four minutes.

8. Remove from the oil and place on kitchen towel.

9. Pour the sesame seeds onto a plate.

10. Spread the miso over the tuna steaks and then sit them on the plate of sesame seeds, turning and lightly pressing the seeds into the meat so they stick. You should be left with perfectly coated tuna steaks in a sesame seed crust.

11. Heat a griddle pan until it’s scorching hot and chuck in your spring onions – leave them to do their thing and keep turning till charred all over.

12. Heat a frying pan with a glug of oil from the tortilla saucepan – waste not, want not and all that jazz.

13. When the frying pan is hot, sear the tuna steaks for about 90 seconds on each side.

14. Remove from the pan and allow to rest.

15. To plate, take a ring mould slightly larger than your tostada and place in the centre of the plate, drizzle the chipotle crema around and carefully remove the ring. Use a cocktail stick to draw lines out of the cream to create a sun shape.

16. Place the tostada in the middle of the sun. With a very sharp knife, slice the tuna, carefully lay three pieces on the tostada. Dot in some of the avo puree, dust the plate with the burnt onion and carefully place your charred spring onion on top.

17. Serve with fresh lime.

The OG Tuna Tostada

What you need:

4 corn tortillas

2 tbsp mayo

1 tbsp sour cream

2 limes

Pinch of salt

2 chipotles in adobo (from a can)

1 ripe avocado

1 banana shallot

Oil for frying.

450g sushi grade tuna

Micro coriander

How you do it:

1. Repeat steps 3 to 8 above.

2. Dice your tuna into 1cm squares.

3. Dice your shallot as finely as possible.

4. Lightly toss the tuna in the juice of one lime.

5. Stir through the diced shallot.

6. To assemble the tostadas, spread some avo puree on the fried tortilla, top with the tuna and onions. Drizzle over some crema, garnish with micro coriander and a squeeze of fresh lime.

A former BBC MasterChef quarter finalist, Hannah hosts WanderSups supper clubs, “serving meals created with love, inspired by journeys around the world, dished up on home turf”. Her ethos is simple - have fun, enjoy it, make it an occasion. To find out more follow @WanderSups or visit wandersups.com.