Portuguese Tuna Steaks
These Portuguese Tuna Steaks are marinated overnight in red wine, garlic, pimenta moída, paprika and classic Portuguese seasonings, then pan seared and finished in a rich, garlicky molho with saffron, parsley and red banana peppers. Serve the tuna and all that delicious molho over fluffy white rice for an easy Portuguese meal packed with flavour. 🇵🇹
Ingredients
For Tuna
- 3 tuna steaks, approximately 6oz double recipe if needed
- cold water for soaking
- ¼ cup white cooking vinegar
For the Marinade
- ½ cup red wine dry Portuguese wine preferably
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon pimenta moída adjust to taste
- 1-2 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 3 cloves of garlice chopped
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ tsp white pepper
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ teaspoon salt adjust to taste
- splash of fresh lemon juice
- splash of white wine vinegar
For the Molho
- 1 tablespoon Avocado oil or as needed for searing
- 2-3 cloves of garlic chopped
- 1 tablespoon pimenta moída
- 2 tablespoon massa de pimentão
- 2 tablespoon tomato pulp
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- pinch of saffron optional
- piri-piri for spice optional
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1-2 red banana peppers
- 2 tablespoon chopped parsley
- drizzle olive oil to taste, optional
Instructions
- 1. Soak the tuna.Place the tuna steaks in a bowl and completely cover with cold water. Soak for approximately 2 hours, changing the water a couple of times.Drain. Cover again with fresh water and add a splash of white wine vinegar. Let sit briefly, then drain and rinse with plain cold water. Allow the tuna to drain well.
- 2. Prepare the marinade.Combine the red wine, olive oil, pimenta moída, sweet paprika, garlic, onion powder, white pepper, bay leaves, salt, lemon juice and white wine vinegar.Add the tuna and coat well in the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for approximately 24 hours.
- 3. Sear the tuna.Remove the tuna steaks from the marinade, but do not discard the marinade or the bay leaves. Reserve everything for the molho.Heat a little avocado or vegetable oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat.Sear the tuna on both sides until nicely browned, 1 -2 mins depending on thickness of tuna. Work in batches if necessary so you don’t overcrowd the pan.Remove the tuna from the pan and set aside.
- 4. Make the molho in the same pan.Lower the heat and add the sliced garlic to the same pan. Cook briefly until fragrant without allowing the garlic to burn.Add the pimenta moída, massa de pimentão, optional tomato pulp and sweet paprika.Add a small pinch of saffron, approximately ½ cup water and piri-piri to taste. Add additional water if you want a little more molho.Pour in all of the reserved marinade, including the 2 bay leaves.Because the marinade was in contact with raw tuna, bring the mixture to a full boil and cook it thoroughly before returning the tuna to the pan.Taste and adjust the salt and white pepper as needed.
- 5. Add the peppers and parsley.Add the chopped fresh parsley and the sliced red banana peppers to the bubbling molho.Allow everything to cook together until the peppers begin to soften and the molho is fragrant.
- 6. Return the tuna to the molho.Add the seared tuna steaks back into the pan and gently mix and turn them through the molho until well coated.Cook briefly, just until the tuna is cooked to your liking and has absorbed some of that sauce.
- 7. Finish with olive oil.Drizzle 1–2 tablespoons of olive oil over everything at the very end.Remove the bay leaves before serving if desired.Serve immediately over fluffy white rice, spooning plenty of the molho, peppers and garlic over the tuna and rice. 🇵🇹
Notes
Tuna thickness: I used three 6-ounce tuna steaks and sliced each horizontally in half to make six thinner pieces. If using thick Costco tuna steaks again, I would try leaving them whole next time and simply adjust the cooking time.
Don’t throw out the marinade: For this recipe, the marinade becomes part of the molho. Make sure it reaches a full boil and is thoroughly cooked since it was in contact with raw fish.
Pimenta moída: Different brands vary in saltiness and heat, so taste the molho before adding additional salt.
Saffron: The saffron goes only into the molho while it cooks, not into the marinade.
Serving: White rice is my favourite because it absorbs all that Portuguese molho underneath. 🤌🏼
