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In my continued celebration of Honeymoon Week here on Heels in the Hills (past posts here and here), today I’m sharing the recipe for one of Tony and my favorite meals of our trip: The rice cracker crusted tuna with sriracha-citrus emulsion at LAGOON by Jean Georges. This restaurant at The St. Regis Bora Bora is the “special occasion” joint at the resort, which Tony and I thought was just code for “even more expensive,” but we were wrong. Well, we were technically right, it was – but it was also worth it, which is rare with traditionally elegant dining… Don’t get me wrong, I love all things upscale and extravagant, but I have high expectations and, as much as Tony and I love to go out to eat, we rarely go to “fancy” restaurants with white table cloths and more forks and spoons than you know what to do with. It’s hard to justify with all the great taco trucks and strip mall sushi spots in L.A. But we loved LAGOON; the experience was luxurious and special, with glass bottom floors so we could watch sharks and tropical fish swim under our feet. And the food was so amazing, we went back a second time. The restaurant sent us home with a recipe book illustrated with artwork by Alain Despert, and this tuna was unforgettable. (We ordered 2 each time we went so we wouldn’t have to share.) Think of it as sashimi encrusted in homemade Saltines with tiny chunks of sea salt, and a sriracha-citrus spin on In-N-Out sauce… HEAVEN.

{Illustration by Alain Despert}

St. Regis Bora Bora LAGOON by Jean Georges’ Rice Cracker Crusted Tuna with Sriracha-Citrus Emulsion

Serves 4

450 gr of fresh red tuna

For the crust:
100 gr egg whites
65 gr cornstarch
2 bags of Japanese rice crackers

For the Dashi:
15 gr bonito flakes
15 cl hot water

For the sauce:
60 gr Dashi
4 egg yolks
45 gr fresh orange juice
57 gr Sriracha
15 gr salt
60 cl grape seed oil

Fresh lime juice
Some scallions

Cut the tuna into 10 cm loung, 4 cm wide and 4 cm deep rectangles.

Ground the rice crackers to middle sized crumbs.
Whisk egg whites and cornstarch until smooth. Coat the piece of tuna first with the egg whites and then with the grounded rice crackers. Put on a rack until needed.

To serve, fry in a 180°C fryer for about 20 seconds. The tuna must be golden on the outside and rare in the middle.

Pour the water over the bonito flakes and let stand for 10 minutes.
Strain through a strainer, pushing for total extraction.
Combine the dashi with the other sauce ingredients (except oil), blend and drizzle with oil. Regrigerate until needed.
Scallions, cleaned, with parts only and sliced.

Service presentation:
Slice the tuna into 2.5cm slices.
Mix equal parts of sliced scallions and emulsion, and serve on the plate fish.

EAT AND BE HAPPY.