Blackened skipjack tuna

Skipjack tuna, otherwise known as striped tuna, is amazingly underrated. If it’s line caught and bled, like the best sashimi fish always are, it’s terrific raw, rare or cooked. It has a bolder flavour than some tuna, so suits more robust sauces or garnishes. In this recipe, I've made a Cajun-inspired spice mix to add crunch and wow to the outside.

• serves

  8

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• ½ tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp ground dried thyme
• ½ tsp ground cumin 
• ¼ tsp ground fennel 
• ½ tsp ground black pepper
• ¼ tsp ground white pepper
• ½ tsp mustard powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 kg striped tuna loin, cut into 8 x 2 cm thick steaks
• a little oil to put on the barbecue

Instructions

Mix all the spices together with the salt. Sprinkle some of the spice mix onto a plate, lay each piece of the fish onto it, so that the whole side has a fine, even spice coating, and use your fingers to sprinkle more spice mix on top.

Heat a barbecue (or possibly a chargrill pan) until quite hot but not so hot that it is smoking.

Oil the fish lightly by dipping each piece onto an oiled plate. Cook the fish on each side for about 3 minutes. You want the tuna to still be pink in the middle for the best results.

Serve with sides of your choice; my preferences are buttered cauliflower, a potato salad, and some bruised kale with pine nuts.

This recipe is from Matthew Evans's documentary What's the Catch, which premieres on Thursday 30 October 2014 at 8.30pm AEST on SBS ONE.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.