Lesson Learned: Trusting Your Purveyor

One of the first lessons in any restaurant management class is to Trust Your Purveyor. I can't stress the importance of this. Even as a seasoned cook, I relearned the lesson recently.

As with any dish, the quality of the ingredients will become the deciding factor of a good or bad dish. Even more than the skill of the chef.

I've been craving one of my favorite tried and true dishes lately - Ahi Poke. It's a simple Hawaiian dish of marinated raw tuna in a mixture of soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, scallions and spices. Not a complicated dish or difficult to make. What makes this dish delicious is the quality of the tuna.

I've had a tough time finding a good purveyor of sashimi grade tuna. Every so often Whole Foods gets in a shipment, flash frozen. While buying it frozen is not my favorite thing to do, I've had good luck at other Whole Foods stores in other cities. This weekend, I was in luck! Even at $24 per pound, I was so excited just to have found it that I trusted the fishmonger and let him wrap it up without inspecting the fish myself.

As I cut it into cubes for the Ahi Poke, I noticed the color of the fish was paler than normal. It wasn't too stringy or fatty so I thought it was maybe just a different type of tuna than I'm used to. Another mistake I made at the store - I didn't ask what exactly the fish was or where it came from.

Finally, the dish was ready to eat. My other half takes a bite and I wait for the reaction. There was none. Huh?? he should be saying "Yum! This is good!" I ask if there's anything wrong with it. he said, "No. It's fine." FINE??? Ahi Poke is FINE?

I take a bite and see what he's talking about. While not spoiled and without a bad stench, the tuna is just "eh." Somehow, this $24 per pound tuna has NO flavor! It was so disappointing, neither of us had seconds and I actually threw away the leftovers. Something that would normally evoke reactions of rage or tears.

*Sigh* Lesson Learned.

Below is my beloved recipe for Ahi Poke.

2lb Sashimi grade tuna, cut into 1/4" - 1/2" dice
1 cup Soy Sauce (low sodium is preferable)
3/4 c. chopped green onion, white and light green parts only
2 Tbs. Toasted Sesame Oil*
1 tsp. Toasted sesame seeds
1 Tbs Crushed Red Pepper
2 tsp Wasabi powder (or to taste)

Combine all ingredients and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, stir again and serve.

* Toasted Sesame Oil is different from regular Sesame Oil and the flavor of the Toasted oil is much richer and tastier in this dish.

Serving suggestions:
Sushi Rice - let cool slightly before serving with tuna.
Sesame crisps - made by brushing a VERY light coating of Toasted Sesame Oil on store-bought, packaged Wonton wrappers, toasting in a 350 degree oven for approximately 5 minutes until golden. Take care not to let them burn.
Edamame Puree - shelled edamame, cooked for 5 minutes, pureed in a blender with lemon juice, a Tablespoon of vegetable oil, a pinch of salt, a teaspoon (or to taste) of Wasabi powder and a few Tablespoons of water, until the mixture is a paste texture.
Extra prepared Wasabi and/or Crushed Red Pepper