Seared yellowfin tuna recipe

Ingredients

• 8 young purple carrots, with tops
• 8 young yellow or white carrots, with tops
• 8 young orange carrots, with tops
• ½ cup (4 ounces) duck fat
• Kosher salt and ground white pepper
• 2 tablespoons (1 ounce) unsalted butter

• 4 tablespoons (2 ounces) unsalted butter
• ¾ pound carrots, peeled and sliced thin
• ½ cup (4 ounces) heavy cream
• ½ cup (4 ounces) canned coconut milk (with the can’s milk and cream mixed together)
• 1 cup (8 ounces) water
• ½ teaspoon piment d’Espelette, or ground dried mild or medium New Mexican red chile
• Kosher salt and ground white pepper

• Olive oil for sautéing
• 4 (4-ounce) sections of tuna loin, at least 1 inch in thickness
• 4 tablespoons (2 ounces) unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons (1 ounce) fresh lemon juice
• Kosher salt and ground white pepper
• Pok choi leaves, carrot leaves, or small radish leaves, or a combination, for the finished dish

To Prepare the Roasted Carrots
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Scrub the carrots and their tops. Trim the greens to a 3-inch length. Reserve a handful of the best-looking trimmings and discard the rest.
3. Spoon the duck fat into a roasting pan and place on a stovetop burner over high heat. When the fat is melted, add the carrots and cook for 2 minutes, stirring them around in the pan to coat them in the fat.
4. Sprinkle the carrots with salt and pepper and transfer the pan to the oven. Cook for 5 minutes, remove the pan from the oven, add the butter, and mix it around with the carrots.
5. Return the pan to the oven. Continue cooking until the carrots are lightly browned and tender, about 10 more minutes depending on the size of the carrots.
To Prepare the Puree
6. While the carrots are roasting, prepare the carrot-coconut puree. Warm the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the carrots and cook for 5 minutes.
7. Add the cream, coconut milk, and water. Cook for about 15 minutes or until very tender.
8. Transfer the mixture to a blender, add the piment d’Espelette, and puree. Season with salt and pepper.
To Prepare the Tuna
9. Warm a large heavy skillet over high heat almost to the smoking point. Pour in just enough oil to cover the bottom. Add the tuna and sear well on all sides. You want it to stay rare at the center. It only takes about 20 seconds on each side, so work quickly.
10. Turn off the heat and add the butter and lemon juice to the skillet. As the butter melts, baste the tuna right away with the pan juices for about 20 seconds. Tilt the skillet as needed to have enough buttery pan juices to spoon.
11. Remove the tuna from the skillet and drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
12. Pour the pan juices into a small bowl and reserve.
Putting it all Together
13. Slice each tuna loin into 3 pieces. Make 2 swipes of carrot-coconut puree across 4 plates at different angles. Place the 3 pieces of tuna, a cut side up, on each plate. Arrange the roasted carrots playfully around the tuna. Drizzle a bit of the lemony pan juices over the tuna. Garnish with leaves and serve.