This recipe was inspired by my friend Sara at White Kitchen, Red Wine. Every time she would post her ahi tuna salad I would tell myself ‘you gotta make that tuna, it looks so good’. Well, I went for it but I took a deconstructed approach and turned into an appetizer.

As mentioned the marinade was inspired by Sara, I changed a couple of items based on what I had in my pantry but I definitely want to thank her for sharing her delicious recipes with the world. The marinade has tons of flavor and pairs well with the fresh mango and crisp cucumber. And these lettuce cups are surprisingly filling based on how light they appear.

Asian Ahi Tuna Lettuce Wraps
- Yield: 2–4 1x
- Category: Appetizer
- Cuisine: Asian
Ingredients
Scale
- 1–1.5 lbs Ahi Tuna Steaks
Ahi Tuna Marinade - 5 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Everything But The Bagel Seasoning
- 2 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 2 tablespoon honey
- 1/2 tablespoon garlic chili sauce (found in the Asian section of most grocery store)
- juice of 1 lemon
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil – for pan searing
- black sesame seeds for garnish
Lettuce Cups
- 1 head bib lettuce – leaves removed from the head
- mango strips
- shredded carrots
- 1 cup diced cucumber
Instructions
- In a small bowl combine soy sauce, sesame oil, everything but the bagel seasoning, salt, pepper, lemon juice, honey, and hot sauce. Whisk to combine. Reserve 1/4 cup of marinade for later.
- Place your tuna steaks in a shallow bowl and pour marinade over them. Cover and let sit in the refrigerator for at least one hour.
- Remove tuna from the refrigerator. Over high heat add 3 tablespoons of coconut oil to your pan.
- When the pan is screaming hot lay one tuna steak down in the oil. Cook for 1 minute on each side. Add an additional minute based on the level of rareness you prefer.
- Remove tuna from pan and lay on a cutting board to rest for 5 minutes.
- With a serrated knife, cut slices against the grain of the tuna.
- Assemble the lettuce cups. Place lettuce on a serving platter, add mango, carrots, and cucumber to the lettuce. Place 2 or 3 pieces of the sliced tuna in each lettuce cup. Garnish with additional sesame seeds if desired. Serve with the reserved marinade as a dipping sauce.
Keywords: ahi tuna, lettuce, mango, cucumber, Asian, cucumber, soy sauce, appetizer
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