Grilled Ahi Tuna Sesame Noodle Bowls with Kiwi Pineapple Salsa
It is recipe contest time again! Zespri is bringing a new varietal of Kiwifruit to the market. For a Minnesotan like myself, we are familiar with new varietals of fruit and we get pretty excited about them. The University of Minnesota is famous for creating some of the most popular new apples on the market. The Honeycrisp, Zestar, and my personal favorite, the SweeTango all got their start here. So I was super excited to try a new varietal of Kiwifruit!
A New Kind of Kiwifruit
The Kiwifruit I know is green on the inside and fuzzy on the outside. This new SunGold variety has a yellow fruit instead of green. It has a bit more tropical and sweet flavor. The SunGold also has a smooth skin that is edible, as opposed to the fuzzy skin variety. I was really digging the fact I could eat the skin, rather than having to scoop out the fruit (which often leads to losing some of the fruit in the peel).
All Zespri Kiwifruit is non-GMO, and is grown in New Zealand. Just one serving (which is 2 kiwifruit) of SunGold provides three times more vitamin C than an orange and as much potassium as a medium banana. SunGold kiwifruit is a good source of antioxidant vitamin E.
How to Eat Kiwifruit
Kiwifruit is typically peeled. You can use a spoon, like for an avocado, as the flesh of the fruit comes away from the peel with a spoon. Kiwifruit can be eaten plain of course, and it is great in fruit salads, but it also can be used in main dishes as well. Kiwifruit contain an enzyme called actinidin that helps break down protein. Actinidin is a meat tenderizer, and goes great in a marinade, which will let you boost the flavor without using salt.
Grilled Ahi Tuna Sesame Noodle Bowls with Kiwi Pineapple Salsa
For my entry into the Kiwifruit Recipe Contest for the Recipe Redux Crew, I had to crank up the grill! This Sungold Kiwifruit has sweet tropical notes, which lead me to pair it with Pineapple, to make a fruit salsa. I want the sweet heat in my dish! Fruit Salsa always is the perfect finish for grilled seafood. I wanted a little nuttyness (Yes, I am making up flavor words!) to my dish. So I thought that the grilled Ahi should go into a noodle bowl. My sesame noodles made an awesome foundation for this Asian inspired noodle bowl.
The recipe calls for Soy Sauce, and you can make my Low Sodium Soy Sauce recipe. I also had some leftover Kiwifruit, so like any Iron Chef Challenger worth their chops, I made a Kiwifruit Cocktail as well!
Try the Recipe
Grilled Ahi Tuna Sesame Noodle Bowls with Kiwi Pineapple Salsa
Ingredients
- 4 6 oz Ahi Tuna Steaks
- 1 cup Pineapple cut into small chunks
- 2 SunGold Kiwifruit peeled and diced
- 1 Shallot minced
- 1 Tbsp Lime Juice
- 1 Tbsp Low Sodium Soy Sauce use my recipe for the lowest
- 1 Tbsp Rice Vinegar
- 2 Tbsp Mint finely chopped
- 8 oz Angel Hair or Spaghetti Pasta
- 1/4 cup Sesame Oil
- 1 Tbsp Sriracha
- 1 Tbsp Ground Ginger
- 1 tsp Ground Black Pepper
- 1 Tbsp Minced Garlic
- 1 Tomato (cored seeded, and diced)
- 1 Medium Red Bell Pepper seeded and chopped
- 1 T Tahini or Low Sodium Peanut Butter
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix the Kiwifruit, pineapple, shallots, lime juice, vinegar, mint, tomato, bell pepper, garlic, and half of the Sriracha.
- Refrigerate while preparing the rest of the dish.
- With the Tuna Steaks at room temperature, coat both sides with sesame oil, and season with the Ginger and Black Pepper.
- Sear the Tuna steaks by cooking them on each side for 2 minutes over high heat and remove from the grill.
- Boil the pasta in water over high heat for about 3 minutes.
- Drain the noodles and add them to a saute pan over medium heat.
- Add the remaining sesame oil, sriracha, and Tahini or Peanut Butter to the noodles and stir until the noodles are completely coated with the sauce.
- Cut the Tuna into bite size chunks and add to the noodle mixture.
- Serve the noodles and tuna into bowls and top with the Kiwi Pineapple Salsa and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Let me know how you liked it!
So there you have my recipe for Grilled Ahi Tuna Sesame Noodle Bowls with Kiwi Pineapple Salsa. I am linking below to all of the other recipes in the Kiwifruit contest. While they are all created by Nutritionists or Dieticians, I can’t vouch that they are low sodium. Remember that is why we look at recipes first and see where we can hack the salt.
Love the close-up pic of the Ahi tuna! Yum! Good point. The natural marinade boosts flavor without salt.
Thank you!
OK, I’m diggng your noodle bowl even more than mine – love me some ahi tuna and Inow that SunGold would be delish with it.
If it comes in a bowl, it can’t be bad! 😉
That tuna looks amazing and your kiwi salsa sounds so tropical and refreshing. Great recipe
I love Ahi tuna going to have to make this real soon