Last Updated on 22nd April 2022 by
I’m going to provide you with a few different methods to cook yellowfin tuna, so no matter what your preference is, you will have some options.
How to Bake Yellowfin Tuna
Baked yellowfin tuna works best when you marinate the tuna filets or steaks first. Allow them to marinate for an hour at least, and then you can heat up the oven to prepare them for baking. How to cook yellowfin tuna steak in oven? You should preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit and prepare the tuna on a baking pan.
Take it out of the marinade and brush a little oil over the top of the fish, and then cook it for about 8 to 12 minutes. How long it needs to cook for will depend on how thick the tuna steaks or fillets are.
Make sure that the tuna sears on both sides, and you should flip it over halfway through its cooking time for best results.
How to Pan Sear Yellowfin Tuna
This is the method most people will use for how to cook yellowfin tuna. It’s quick and simple and creates a really nice texture in the outer skin. You can marinate the yellowfin tuna in seasonings like black pepper, salt, coriander seed, sesame, paprika, and/or lemon pepper.
Sear it in a nonstick pan or cook it in a skillet that’s very well seasoned. Or you can just cover the bottom of a skillet with oil. Cook for about a minute or two on each side on high heat.
If your filets are very thick, you will want to lower the heat so that you don’t burn the outside and yet the interior of the fish cooks thoroughly.
How to Grill Yellowfin Tuna
Grilled yellowfin tuna is fairly simple to make as well, but you will need to prepare your grill to keep the tuna from sticking to the grates. You should also marinate your fish ahead of time and then flavor it with seasonings and brush it with oil. All of this helps to give the fish a more complex flavor and to make sure it stays moist as it cooks, keeping it from drying out.
Allow it to cook on very high heat for a minute or two on each side. Make sure you don’t overheat the fish, as it should only be cooked to about medium-rare. It also should be eaten as soon as it is done cooking on the grill, and it should not be allowed to rest after it is seared.
How to Confit Yellowfin Tuna
This is a method for how to cook yellowfin tuna on the stove and then preserve it in its own fat. It gives you an oily tuna that’s really flavorful. The tuna needs to marinate in olive oil overnight and then be cooked in oil in a saucepan on medium level. Keep cooking the fish for about 5 minutes, until it’s pink in the center but primarily opaque throughout.
The tuna can be cut into pieces and added to jars and then covered with olive oil and the jars sealed. The jars of tuna should then be cooked in a hot water bath for about an hour and a half.
How to Sous Vide Yellowfin Tuna
For this method, you want to dry brine the tuna for about 1/2 hour before you start to cook it. Then, add the tuna to a resealable plastic bag with some oil so the oil seeps into the fish, permeating it and making it moist. The tuna should cook in a sous vide machine at 105 degrees Fahrenheit. This will give it a texture similar to sashimi.
If you increase the temperature to 115 degrees, you end up with a texture similar to steak, and 130 degrees Fahrenheit next for a nice canned tuna-like texture.
How to Oil-Poach Yellowfin Tuna
The final method for cooking yellowfin tuna that I want to share with you is to oil-poach it. A lot of tuna recipes call for the tuna to be somewhat oily, and if you prefer yours that way, this is a great method for preparing yellowfin tuna.
Pour olive oil into a large saucepan on the stove and cook on medium low heat. You want to use a cup of olive oil for every ounce of yellowfin tuna steak. Once the oil heats out 260 degrees Fahrenheit, you can add in your tuna, which should already be seasoned and marinated. Allow it to poach in the saucepan until it becomes almost entirely opaque, though it can still have a little bit of pink in the middle.
This should take around 4 minutes for each side of the fish, and then you can take it out of the oil and serve it immediately.
How to Cook Frozen Yellowfin Tuna
You can easily find yellowfin tuna in the frozen section in most groceries. Can you cook it from frozen? It’s not the best way to cook it, especially if you’re going to heat it up in a frying pan on the stovetop. You should let it thaw completely, which you can do by leaving it in the fridge overnight. After your tuna has thawed out, it should be patted dry with paper towels before you seasoned, marinade, or cook it.
It should be marinated only after it has been thawed. Otherwise, as the ice melts, it will make the marinade waterier and less flavorful. The marinade will also be less likely to stick to the fish and season it properly.
If you are cooking your yellowfin tuna in the oven, however, it doesn’t need to thaw out beforehand. It may need to cook for a few more minutes if it hasn’t been thawed, though.
I have provided you with a few ways to cook yellowfin tuna, so no matter what your preferred method, you have some options to work with. If you’ve only had yellowfin tuna one way before, you might want to give some of these other methods a try. You may just find a new favorite.
I'm Pauline, a mother of four grown children, my passion for cooking stemmed from the joy i get cooking for my family. I love to try new dishes, especially when dining out but creating and sharing my own recipes is my favourite thing to do!
nimabi
Monday 4th of December 2023
Thank you very much for sharing, I learned a lot from your article. Very cool. Thanks. nimabi
Steven McKelley
Thursday 29th of September 2022
Thank you for such excellent and diverse, cooking methods!