If you are looking for a seafood meal recipe to excite your tastebuds, ahi tuna steak is what you need. This is a great mouthwatering delicious fish to eat, provided you cook it right. When seared properly, they have an excellent tender taste. To cook tuna steak, you can just use the oven. The best temperature will be at 400 degrees. This is where you can get the fish properly seared with a bit of crispiness and yet taste so tender. So how long to cook ahi tuna steak in the oven at 400 degrees? Read this post for the answer as well as some tips on cooking ahi tuna steak to a better flavor.
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It takes 10 minutes to cook ahi tuna steak in the oven at 400 degrees per one inch of thickness. Tuna is a tender fish that doesn’t take long to cook. Moreover, you don’t want to make it well done because it gets dry and rubbery. The general rule is to sear the tuna on the outside and leave it raw in the center. This guarantees a juicy and tender fish that melts in the mouth.
You can cook ahi tuna at temperatures ranging from 350 to 450 degrees fahrenheit. If you choose 350 degrees, bake the fish in the oven for 6 minutes per 1/2 inch thickness. That is, if your steak is one-inch thick, it will have to spend 12 minutes in the heated oven. For 450 degrees in the oven, the cooking time gets reduced. Four minutes per 1/2 inch thickness is the optimal time for the steak to get crispy on the outside and pink on the inside.
When it comes to such short cooking time, it seems useless to talk about the best temperature. However, each temperature has a tiny advantage that improves the steak in its own way. For example, the 450 degrees will grill the tuna surface crispier and its edges browner. At 350 degrees, the fish will have more time to absorb the flavor of the marinade, sauce or spices it is covered with. In our case, we prefer to grill the tuna in the oven at 400 degree fahrenheit. We find that this is the optimal option to get a crispy, juicy and flavorful steak.
Here’s the recipe to cook ahi tuna steak.
The obvious way to cut down the cooking time of a dish is to increase the temperature it cooks at. We doubt there is a need for doing so with ahi tuna steak since gets ready in just 10 minutes. If you want to go ahead and increase the temperature to cook it even faster, we don’t recommend you to go above 450 degrees. The steak will come out almost burnt on the outside and completely raw on the inside.
There are a couple of side dishes that are perfect match for ahi tuna steak. Steamed rice, tuna steak and roasted veggies are the classical trio that gets your tastebuds to cloud nine. Potatoes make a great side dish in almost any culinary scenario. If you are out of ideas what to serve with baked tuna, turn to roasted potatoes. Complete the dish with little lemon to add an acid balance and a bold citrussy flavor to the delicate fish. Other side dishes you can opt for include fried green beens, stuffed potatoes and garlic fries.