Gabriela Cámara's tuna tostadas recipe
Gabriela Cámara's tostadas de atún, made famous at her buzzy Mexico City restaurant Contramar, sparked an unprecedented raw fish craze in Mexico’s landlocked capital.
Bringing together Mexican and Japanese influences, these crunchy corn tostadas are spread with a chipotle-mayo sauce and topped with sashimi-grade marinated tuna, avocado slices and crispy leeks.
Says Cámara, ‘It has everything that a good recipe should have, which is contrast in texture and consistency with the crispy leeks and avocado, it’s unctuous on the mouth, there’s acidity but it’s comforting. But the main thing is that it’s consistently good-quality fish.’
This recipe is from Lonely Planet’s new book, From the Source Mexico, part of the new From the Source series exploring the world’s top gastronomic destinations from street food stalls to local bistros.
Ingredients
- 200 g sashimi-grade tuna
- 94 ml soy sauce
- 32 ml orange juice
- 25 g leeks
- 250 ml vegetable oil
- 37 g mayonaise
- 8 g chipotle chile, chopped
- 0.5 tbsp chives
- 1 packet of store-bought tostadas
- 40 g sliced avocado, to serve
- 1 lime, cut into wedges
Details
- Cuisine: Mexican
- Recipe Type: Starter
- Difficulty: Easy
- Preparation Time: 15 mins
- Cooking Time: 10 mins
- Serves: 2
Step-by-step
- Thinly slice the tuna, then mix the soy sauce and orange juice and marinate the tuna in it for no more than 10 minutes.
- Cut leeks lengthwise into thin 5cm (2in)-long strips using the pale part of the leek. Discard the dark green parts and the root end of the leeks.
- Fry the leeks in vegetable oil in a pan over medium heat until crispy and golden brown. Remove from the pan and place on a plate lined with paper towel.
- Blend the mayonnaise, chopped chipotle chile and chives to make a creamy sauce.
- Spread the mayo-chipotle sauce on the corn tostadas and top each with two or three slices of the tuna.
- Top with fried leeks and avocado slices.
- Serve with lime wedges.
Reproduced with permission from From the Source Mexico © 2017 Lonely Planet. Tuna Tostadas image © Lonely Planet - Lindsay Lauckner Gundlock.
More Mexican recipes you might enjoy:
Thomasina Miers' Mexican aguachile