Do You Like Fish Sticks?

This one isn't crazy gourmet, but when I caught it on a weekend cooking show we often watch, I was intrigued with one cook's seemingly obvious concept of elevating fish sticks by essentially making tempura inspired by seared tuna. I also happened to have the perfect side dish for it in mind, too.

Tuna Tempura Fish Sticks and Asian Slaw

The only things that really make this dish elaborate or laborious are the deep frying and the amount of ingredients in the slaw. I ended up blending a lot of ideas instead of just following exactly what I saw on TV. But at the end of the day, we have fresh tuna sliced like fish sticks, battered in a light tempura batter gently flavored with soy sauce, then finished with sesame seeds and flaky sea salt (everything bagel seasoning is a great idea, too). The sauce I made was from the show, which is basically a lemony wasabi-mayo. I liked it okay, but I think next time I'll whip up my go-to spicy tuna sauce or the lime-ginger-soy sauce I use with seared tuna.

This Asian slaw, which is a recipe I've been doing for years, is loaded with veggies like bok choy, napa cabbage, mung bean sprouts, ginger, snow peas, carrots, red bell pepper, etc, all tossed in a sesame-mirin-soy dressing and topped with crispy wontons (freshly fried since I already had oil at 375º).

Even though it's deep fried and the sauce and dressing has high fat content, the whole meal feels light and fresh. I didn't quite achieve a red center in the tuna even though I kept it in the freezer before going to the oil, but it was still tender and moist. I'm not sure how feasible something like emulating seared tuna is when deep frying, but that will be the challenge for next time!