I made this recipe following the exact steps from Kitchen Club, and honestly, if the ingredients promised to be a flavor bomb, the result was even better than expected. So many flavors that combined perfectly. If anything, the little fried egg would be a dispensable element, but the sauce was delicious and made all the tasters go back for seconds. Presentation-wise it didn't turn out anywhere near as spectacular as the original recipe, but the flavor was up to par.

Pics and Cakes

Ingredients

(Serves 6)

Mango huancaína sauce

  • 80 g (2.8 oz) fresh cheese (burgos-style)
  • 100 ml (scant ½ cup) evaporated milk
  • 60 ml (¼ cup) mango purée
  • 3 cracker or soda-style biscuits
  • 1 slice of sandwich bread soaked in milk
  • 2 tbsp chopped onion
  • 40 g (1.4 oz) walnuts
  • 3 tbsp ají amarillo paste (or to taste)
  • ½ tsp cumin
  • salt

Tuna tartare

  • 300 g (10.5 oz) tuna
  • Zest of 1 lime
  • 1 tsp shichimi togarashi (I didn't have any and used harissa paste)
  • 1 tbsp sesame oil
  • 30 ml (2 tbsp) soy sauce
  • 50 ml (3.5 tbsp) olive oil

Rest of the recipe

  • 400 g (14 oz) sushi rice
  • 2 ripe avocados
  • 6 quail eggs
  • 2 corn tortillas
  • Salt, oil and sesame seeds

Method

  1. Start by making the huancaína sauce. Sauté the onion in a pan with a little olive oil over high heat — it should be golden but still crunchy.
  2. In a food processor, add the onion and the rest of the ingredients, and blitz until you get a creamy sauce.
  3. Adjust the salt. Set aside.
  4. Chop the tuna into medium dice and dress it with lime zest, harissa, sesame oil, soy sauce and olive oil. Stir gently and set aside.
  5. Cut the avocados into medium dice and dress with salt and olive oil (you can leave the pits in until plating so they don't oxidize, or add a little lime juice).
  6. Cut the corn tortillas into strips and fry until crispy but not burnt (they brown pretty quickly and harden as they cool). Set aside.
  7. Fry the quail eggs with crispy edges.
  8. When it's time to plate, spoon a generous amount of sauce on each plate, then place the sushi rice on top without packing it down, add the dressed avocado, the tuna tartare, and finish with the quail egg and the corn tortilla strips.
  9. Garnish with fresh spring onion and sesame seeds.

PiC Tips

  • You can easily find ají amarillo paste at Latin grocery stores. Same goes for mango purée, which they usually have frozen (a great option if it's not mango season or you can't find ripe ones).
  • I haven't included how I made the sushi rice because I used the rice cooker and then cheated a bit by using a powdered mix that already comes with the salt, sugar and vinegar. I brought mine from Japan, but you can probably find something similar at Asian grocery stores.
  • Remember to freeze the fish for at least 24 hours to avoid anisakis problems.