Avoid This Mistake When Marinating Tuna Steaks
While it might seem as though longer is better when making the most of a marinade, that is not always the case. The thought process makes a certain sense: We know that low-and-slow cooked barbecue is the best, we prize the Sunday gravy that takes all afternoon to come together on the stove, and we praise patience as a virtue in so many other culinary endeavors. However, tuna steaks are a standout exception.
After you've successfully avoided any common seafood-buying mistakes, picked up the perfect seasonings, and researched the best cooking temperature for your tuna steaks, the last thing you want to do is marinate them for too long. While plenty of proteins can stand up to an overnight ingredient bath, tuna is not one of them. Rather than infusing the fish with the most flavor possible, as one might reasonably imagine, overdoing the marinade can actually begin to degrade the delicate cut.
The best way to marinate tuna steaks
Most tuna steak marinades call for some sort of acid, such as a citrus like lime juice. Even when diluted by other ingredients like oil, a little something for sweetness, salt, a bit of heat from a jalapeño, and an allium like garlic, that acid begins to break down the tuna steak beyond your intended tenderization after more than a couple of hours of marinating. Even a ceviche, which "cooks" in its broth instead of from a heat source, is most successful when it's made and served relatively quickly, rather than being left to sit around for too long.
A tuna steak's somewhat brief marinade can still work for even the most dedicated meal preppers. Sure, it might not compare with those hearty foods you can start days in advance to save time on later. But it only takes a few minutes to toss together 1/2 a cup of olive oil, a couple of tablespoons each of lime juice and minced garlic, a teaspoon of grated ginger, and a few dashes of honey and soy sauce. By letting the simple marinade coat the tuna steak for only a half hour before searing, you'll still have a great dinner centerpiece in under an hour.