Cajun Style Blackened Tuna Is The Easiest Way To Wow Everyone

Cajun style blackened pan seared tuna is one of my favorite ways to prepare fresh caught blackfin tuna, yellowfin tuna, big eye tuna, and even skipjack tuna.

It is quick and easy while still wowing everyone.  My wife loves good seafood, however she needs flavor on it to not only like it but for her to love it. 

Enter Cajun Blackened Seasoning.

Cajun style tuna works perfect as it has more flavor than just using olive oil with fresh cracked pepper.  Which to me is also great but still lacks the wow factor to the flavor. 

Another favorite way to cook tuna is to pan sear it after rolling it with sesame seeds.  This does produce great results however still does not have the burst of flavor to truly bring out the amazing taste of fresh blackfin tuna. Often you end up relying on soy sauce to fill the flavor gap.  The sesame seeds also create difficulties while searing the tuna, if you are cooking more than one batch any left over sesame seeds in the pan will cause your food to taste burnt as the sesame seeds that fall off from the previous batch will over cook and burn causing the rest of your tuna to taste bad.

Which leads us to the the quick, easy, and in my opinion the most flavorful way to prepare tuna without overpowering the fish. 
CAJUN STYLE BLACKENED SEASONING!

Start out with fresh caught tuna, either caught by you, your friends with a boat, or sourced at a local seafood market

On this day I went out fishing with family for a quick 4 hour trip dock to dock and we caught a boat load of tuna in a quick half day.  We had to get back for a family event in the afternoon and even started out late.  We made it to the boat at 8:30 am and got back to the dock at 12:30 PM.

We were fortunate as soon as the lines hit the water we started catching some even before the 3rd line was set out in the spread we already had one on.  The rest of our time on the water that day continued the same way, one of those special days you will remember fishing with family for years to come.

Second, fillet then trim the tuna steaks

If you caught the fish yourself you will want to fillet the fish as normal but try to keep the main portion of trimming the blood line out for when you can do so on a clean cutting board.  I prefer to have the meat I will eat not touch the fillet table to reduce contamination to the meat.

Once on a clean surface or cutting board trim any darker meat which is the blood line off of the fillets.  In doing this each fillet of the fish will turn into two strips.  So each fish that you fillet will end up yielding four strips of meat.  This is because the blood line that runs along the spine goes all the way from the spine to the skin of the fish. 

To remove this portion you will cut a “V” shaped wedge out of the fillet which essentially cuts the fillet in half creating the two strips of meat per fillet.  This portion of the blood line is also where there are bones in tuna fillets, so while trimming the blood line you are also getting the strip of bones that run through the meat head to tail out as well.

If you bought your fresh tuna at a store the blood line should already have been removed.

The blood line is ok to eat, but this is where any fishy taste in the meat comes from on tuna and all fish.  So in my case cooking for friends, family, or clients if I ever didn’t get all of the blood line off most people I cooked it for won’t enjoy the fish as much.  Some might not even eat it at all after the first bite, so make sure to carefully remove all of the blood line.

Third, Coat the Strips of Tuna with Olive Oil Then drop them in a hot pan

Once the tuna is trimmed place them on a clean surface such as a plate, then drizzle olive oil over the blackfin tuna strips. Then flip the strips over in the olive oil to make sure every surface is coated.

At this point the blackfin tuna strips are ready to be dropped in the hot pan.

Add a thin layer of olive oil to the pan as well, then drop the blackfin tuna strips onto a pre heated pan.  I prefer to preheat the pan to a medium temp. 

Some like to pan sear the meat on a super hot pan cooking on it as hot as it will get.  This to me does not work out well, I usually like to cook several batches as I am often cooking enough for several people or large groups.  Or even just cooking extra up for left overs as after cooking it the next day for lunch tastes great after its chilled in the fridge.

So If I were to cook several batches of fish while using extreme heat the olive oil in the pan will degrade and breakdown and turn very dark causing the second batch of fish cooked in the same pan to not taste as good.  If cooking one batch you wont notice the olive oil getting over heated.  But if you do one pan full, then another directly after in the same pan you will notice the second batch just won’t taste as good. 

In order to do several pans of fish one after another you will have to clean out the olive oil after each batch to eliminate this issue.

Another issue with super heating the pan is the olive oil will splatter everywhere!  At medium heat the olive oil will splatter a little, but if you super heat the pan the olive oil will get air born to places you never thought possible once the tuna hits the pan.

These issues to me are a pain, so instead I just cook it for slightly longer on slightly lower heat, at a temperature that will not degrade the olive oil, and that won’t create excessive oil splatter everywhere.

Forth Step, add the Blackened Seasoning to the top of the Tuna Strip

As soon as the fish hits the pan you will want to sprinkle the blackened cajun seasoning onto the top of the tuna strip.  

Depending on how hot you set your pan you will cook it on each side of the tuna strip for 30 seconds to one minute. For a medium heat pan I like to do one minute per side. 

If you want the fish to be cooked more add time, and if you want the fish to remain almost raw cook for a shorter amount of time.  One tip is you can always take the fish off and check the inside to see if it is to your liking then if needed put it back on the pan to cook more, but once cooked there is no going back!

Also remember fish will continue to cook even after it is removed from the heat. So take the fish off slightly before you think it is perfect, because once it is off the hot pan and on a plate it will still cook a little more. Again if you want it cooked more you can easily just put it back on the pan for a few more seconds.

Once the blackfin tuna strips have been on the pan for one minute flip to the other side and immediately sprinkle the blackened cajun seasoning onto the other side.

Fifth Step, Once the Tuna Strips are seared remove from heat and let them “rest”

When the tuna strips color looks like the above picture remove from the pan onto a clean plate or cutting board.

Let the meat rest for a few minutes before doing anything else with it.  I usually take this time to clean up the kitchen and any plates, cutting boards, knives, etc that I may have used so far.

Sixth Step, Cut the Blackfin Tuna Strips into Quarter inch thick pieces

After the meat rests it is much easier to handle without falling apart, take a clean sharp fillet or chefs knife and cut the strips into quarter inch pieces.

Once the pieces are cut you can then fan them out around the plate as in the picture above or leave them in cut up strips depending on how you are serving them.  I like the presentation of fanning them out like in the picture above.

Serve with soy sauce, spicy mayo, or the way I often like it is with nothing else added.  The rich flavor of the tuna with the cajun blackened seasoning to me is perfect.  My wife also agrees that this combination is all that is needed, and this is coming from someone who when eating sushi will let the fish swim one last time in soy sauce before eating it.  So try it with and without soy sauce and see which you prefer.

As always any questions let us know by sending us a message or by leaving a comment below.

Enjoy!