Tuna with Angel Hair Pasta

The Gastronomer and I have been living a mere 10 minute drive from a Mitsuwa Marketplace for more than three years now, but we didn't start paying it regular visits until last month.  I guess we thought the only worthwhile Mitsuwa was the Torrance location, with its dynamite food court.  Well, it turns out the appeal of Mitsuwas extends beyond ramen and curry.  We've recently been enjoying amazing Sumo citrus fruits, and last week The Gastronomer made inari sushi at home.  In light of these successes, I felt like it was time to finally try out a recipe from our Nobu West cookbook.  Like most cookbooks from fancy restaurants, the Nobu book initially struck me as fairly intimidating, although it was more the shopping than the cooking itself that had me hesitating.  Nobu's recipes tend to be surprisingly simple, so the quality of ingredients is undoubtedly paramount in achieving the desired product.  I don't know much about picking out fish, but I felt like I couldn't go wrong at Mitsuwa.

For this simple twist on a Japanese noodle dish, I picked out two pre-packaged fresh tuna fillets from Spain, on sale for $22.99 per pound.  I've never spent this much for fish in the grocery store before, but it was worth it, as the quality turned out to be comparable to what we would expect from a nice sushi restaurant.  I do believe this was one of The Gastronomer's favorite things that I've ever made.

Recipe adapted from Nobu West by Nobu Matsuhisa and Mark Edwards. 

• 3 ounces angel hair pasta (capelli d'angelo)
• salt
• 5 ounces boneless, skinless fresh tuna
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon chili-garlic sauce [I used Lee Kum Kee brand]
• 1.5 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/4 bunch of chives, finely snipped

Cook the angel hair pasta in plenty of salted, boiling water until just al dente.  Drain and refresh in cold water, then drain well again.  Following the grain of the tuna, slice it into long strips as thin as you can manage (~1/8 inch).  Combine with the drained pasta in a mixing bowl.  Add the sesame and olive oils and gently mix again.  Add the chili-garlic sauce to the soy sauce and gently mix into the salad, taste, and add a little more salt if required.  Place on a serving dish and sprinkle with the chives.

Yield: 2 servings (Nobu says that this recipe serves 4, but that would be very small portions--I ended up doubling the recipe so that we would have leftovers).
Estimated Start-to-Finish time: Not given
Actual Start-to-Finish time: 35 minutes (could have been about 20 if I had been a bit more confident cutting the fish).
Substitutions:  The original recipe called for 2 tablespoons sesame oil, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, and 1/2 bunch of chives, but these amounts seemed excessive.  I used the quantities listed above, and The Gastronomer and I felt that the dish was plenty oily and salty.