Kadayawan: Makati Version (Part 2)

The second day of the Kadayawan festival at Market! Market! was allotted for another series of cooking competitons. This time the main ingredient for the contest was TUNA. Unlike the previous day's challenge, this one has a milder flavor and a more substantial protein content.

As opposed to durian, tuna seems rather bland... its flavor profile depends on the herbs and spices that the chef  includes in the mix. For the tuna culinary competition, there were eight contestants who took on the task of giving tuna dishes their own unique twist.

There were promising dishes that were creatively presented. Apart from the usual grilling and frying techniques, the panel of judges was looking into an unorthodox way of giving tuna a "new" taste. There is a right way and a wrong way of cooking tuna. The longer you cook it, the tougher it gets. On the other hand, if it is under-cooked then it has a fishy and slimy after-taste that lingers in the mouth.

Seared tuna with radish and sweet potatoes

Most of the contestants fried their dishes. Ergo, we, the judges had our work cut out for us. It was all a matter of technique in frying. The pan has to be really hot and the oil has to reach its smoking point. You'll know when the tuna is cooked. It's easier to turn it over in the pan when that happens. So a cook doesn't flip a tuna steak until one side has turned golden brown.

Tuna with spicy mango salsa

Searing it on the other hand takes only a few minutes. It doesn't even require cooking oil if one is using a wrought iron skillet. The proper way to sear is to make sure that the outer layer is thoroughly cooked and the inner flesh retains its pink color. Like a steak, it onget an even sly takes only five to seven minutes to sear  on each side.

Sweet and sour Tuna

The puzzling thing for us judges was that, most contestants picked up some wrong information from cooking shows that proliferate the local airwaves. One contestant when informed that her tuna did not absorb the flavors of the sweet and sour sauce was defensive when given a tip by Chef Lorraine to infuse some of the flavors of the sauce while the tuna was being prepared prior to cooking. She averred that  what she learned from a cooking show she watched was to drench the tuna steak in the sauce after the cooking. Her sweet and sour tuna ended up tasting like two different dishes: a sweet and sour sauce and a bland tuna steak! Needless to say she didn't win the top prize.

Tuna steak with coconut milk

Another contestant made a tuna dish in coconut milk. Her idea would have been perfect. Except that she didn't cook the coconut milk well enough so that the curdled coconut milk ended up a soggy, sour sauce that didn't meld with the leeks she put into it. Hers could have been the "different" stand-out dish.

The winning dish: Tuna fingers with durian aioli

The winning chef came up with a breaded tuna with a durian aioli sauce. Initially, the judges thought breading the tuna would make it chewy. However, he fried the tuna fillets until they were the perfect golden brown and the meat retained its moisture and freshness.