This sashimi recipe is to die for! We made this for a light lunch, and I feel like I could eat this every day and never get tired of it. If you’ve caught ahi on your fishing trip, I highly recommend enjoying some fresh caught sashimi that same day. If you’ve got kitchen access, even better, because this sauce (in my opinion) really brings the meal together.
The mild flavour and firm texture of the ahi steak works so well with the slightly spicy/slightly salty butter sauce.
Soy Wasabi Butter Sauce (makes about 1.5 cups)
- 1 Tbs. ginger, crushed
- 1 tsp. shallots
- 4 oz. white wine
- 1 tsp. lime juice
- 2 oz. heavy cream
- 1/4 lb. unsalted butter
- 3 Tbs. sweet Thai chili sauce
- 1/2 oz. wasabi paste
- 3 oz. shoyu (soy sauce or tamari work as well, though shoyu is my personal preference)
To make the sauce:
Sauté shallots in a lightly oiled saucepan (I like to use grapeseed oil for this, but anything will do, really), add the white wine and lime juice, then reduce by half.
Once the wine mixture has reduced, add the heavy cream and reduce again by 1/3. Whip the butter into your reduction and strain.
Stir in the chili sauce, then mix shoyu and wasabi paste together and whip into butter sauce until sauce turns light brown.
Taste test your sauce! If you want more salt, add in a bit more shoyu; if you want more spice, add in a bit more chill sauce! If you want to get fancy, you can garnish with black sesame seeds and chives
The ahi will only take 2-3 minutes to prepare, so make sure your sauce is ready to serve before you break out the fish.
Once your sauce is finished, lightly (very lightly) grease a cast iron skillet (or a non-stick skillet, though cast iron will give a better sear) and heat your pan on medium-high.
While the pan is heating you can crust your ahi in toasted sesame seeds and a dusting of sea salt and black pepper, or ditch the sesame seeds and just use the salt and pepper.
After your fish is crusted and salted, place it into the skillet and sear. Give each side a quick sear, depending on your taste preferences, just be sure not to overcook the ahi!
Once all the sides have been cooked, remove it from heat and slice to desired thickness – I like to aim for just under 3/4 of a cm or 1/4 inch.
Serve with a light drizzling of sauce on top, and another dish of sauce on the side for dipping.
Leave a review if you decide to make this recipe, and if you caught your ahi on Maui, make sure to let us know who took you out!
Aloha!
Credit for this sauce goes to Chef D.K. Kodama of Sansei Seafood Restaurant & Sushi Bar.
