The Costa
Azul Sir-a-cha Style Hot Sauce in this post was provided by Melissa’s Produce but the opinions expressed
here are my own.
Melissa’s Produce
unveiled their new Costa Azul
Sir-a-cha Style Hot Sauce to the media last week, so I had a chance to try
this exciting new hot sauce firsthand. It has a rich and smoky flavor profile
with slightly sweet undertones and healthy amount of tang. The hot sauce is
made from red jalapeños grown at the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula.
The climate and rich soil produce a unique flavor in this pepper. Red jalapeños
are green jalapeños that have been left on the vine to mature. The additional
ripening time produces more capsaicin for a spicier pepper and makes the pepper
sweeter.
Melissa’s Costa Azul
inspired a recipe that reminds me of home, Hawaii. Sriracha sauce is a common
condiment and ingredient in Hawaii, which is part of the melting pot of
cultures in the islands. Poke is one of my favorite comfort foods and readily
available at any supermarket or grocery store. This is not something you will
find in these mainland poke shops. This is the real thing!
Costa Azul Spicy Tuna
Poke by OC Food Diva
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Servings: 4
Ingredients:
2 cups Calrose rice
2½ cups water
½ lb sashimi-grade
tuna
¼ cup Best Foods
Mayonnaise
2 tbsp Melissa’s Costa
Azul Sir-a-cha Style Hot Sauce + 4 tsp for garnish
1 tbsp tobiko (flying
fish roe)
¼ tsp Ajinomoto
(monosodium glutamate)
¼ tsp Hawaiian salt,
fine grind
8 Nori strips (dried
seaweed used in sushi)
2 tsp furikake for
garnish (Japanese rice seasoning)
Directions:
- To make rice: Place rice in cooking pot and rinse 3 times. Add water and cook in a rice cooker. (If you don’t have a rice cooker, you can cook it on the stove top. Start sticky rice by rinsing rice 3 times until water is almost clear. Combine rice and water into a covered pot to boil on high heat, about 5 minutes. Reduce to low heat and cook for 5 minutes. Remove pot from heat and let sit, covered, for 10 minutes. Fluff rice and cover to keep warm.)
- While rice is cooking, chop up tuna into ¼” cubes. Set aside in a glass or plastic medium bowl.
- In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise and hot sauce. Add combined sauce, tobiko, ajinomoto, and Hawaiian salt to tuna. Gently fold together with a plastic spoon or spatula until tuna is completely coated. Refrigerate until rice is cooked.
- To assemble, make an “X” of the nori strips on a plate. Using a 3” ring mold, pack rice into mold. Place in the middle of the “X” and gently release. Fold nori strips up along the sides of the rice and gently tack it on top. Don’t worry if the strips don’t overlap because you will be covering it with the poke. Place a ½ cup of the spicy poke mixture on top of the rice. Zig zag about 1 tsp of Costa Azul on top of poke. Sprinkle about ½ tsp of furikake on top. Ready to serve!
For more information:
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