Neil Perry’s seared tuna with creamy mushroom sauce

Tuna is packed full of flavour and can handle this cream sauce with ease. I like the steaks rare, so I just sear them and rest them in a low oven while making the sauce. Buttery potato purée and some boiled broccolini dressed with olive oil and lemon juice are the only accompaniments it needs.

Serves 4

4 x 160g tuna steaks
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
extra virgin olive oil
small handful of finely chopped chives

For the sauce
4 tbsp butter
4 eschalots (French shallots), thinly sliced
extra virgin olive oil (just a dash)
2 garlic cloves, crushed
½ cup sliced fresh shiitake mushrooms
½ cup sliced oyster mushrooms
3 tbsp Dijon mustard
½ cup brandy
1 cup pure cream
salt and freshly ground pepper
juice of 1 lemon

1. Preheat the oven to 70C (90C conventional) to rest fish.

2. Place the fish on a board, then season with salt.

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3. Position a large, heavy-based frying pan over high heat. Once it’s hot, drizzle the fish with olive oil, place the fish in the pan and sear well on both sides (about 2 minutes on each side). Transfer to a plate and place in the oven to rest and keep warm while you make the sauce. You want the tuna rare, but warmed through.

4. Return the frying pan to a medium-high heat and add the butter and eschalots, along with a dash of olive oil. When the eschalots are starting to soften, add the garlic and a good pinch of salt and keep cooking until the garlic softens, too. Add all the mushrooms to the pan and cook for a few moments to soften, then stir in the mustard.