Best Spices for Tuna Steak

A tuna steak is firm and meaty enough to take a real crust, and there are two very different ways to build one: a French-style au poivre crust of white pepper and coriander seed, or sesame seeds with a soy, ginger and garlic dressing. The two named recipes here do one each, and both sear the fish for under a minute a side. That short sear leaves the center raw, which is worth knowing before you cook for anyone in a higher-risk group.

At a glance

Seasoning	Job on the fish	Where it appears
Pepper (black or white)	Pungent crust	Moonen’s tuna au poivre (white)¹
Coriander seed	Citrusy, floral crunch in the crust	Moonen¹
Ginger and garlic	Sharp aromatics in the sauce	The Woks of Life²
Soy sauce	Salt and savor	The Woks of Life²
Sesame seeds and sesame oil	Nutty crust; aroma in the dressing	The Woks of Life²
Citrus (mandarin, lime)	Sweet-sour brightness	The Woks of Life²
Pickled ginger (gari)	Palate cleanser on the side	Served with sushi³
Smoked salt	Smoke	SaltWorks’ suggestion for ahi⁴

Two ways to season a tuna steak

Pepper crust: tuna au poivre

Rick Moonen’s tuna au poivre, from the James Beard Foundation archive, pairs 2 tablespoons of white peppercorns with 4 teaspoons of coriander seeds for four 6-ounce steaks. He seasons with coarse salt and sears the fish in a very hot cast-iron skillet for 30 seconds on each side.¹ Moonen’s recipe uses white, but black pepper works the same way in a crust if that’s what you’ve got. Coarsely cracked spice gives you a crunchier crust than fine powder. See white pepper vs. black pepper and cracked vs. ground black pepper.

Soy, ginger, garlic and sesame

Bill Leung’s seared ahi tuna for The Woks of Life coats 12 ounces of 1½-inch-thick yellowfin or bigeye steaks in black and white sesame seeds (2 tablespoons of each) with ¼ teaspoon of sea salt. The steaks sear in 2 tablespoons of neutral oil for 30 to 60 seconds a side. They’re served with lime wedges and a dressing of mandarin or clementine, 1 teaspoon each of grated garlic and ginger, a scallion, 1½ tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of honey, 1 teaspoon of rice vinegar and 1 teaspoon of sesame oil.²

The core seasonings and what each does

Ginger

Cooking fresh ginger makes it more pungent but less fresh.⁵ In the Woks of Life dressing, it goes in raw.² Pickled ginger is the other way to serve it: gari, ginger pickled in rice vinegar and sugar, is a palate cleanser eaten with sushi. See cooking with ginger.

Soy sauce

Soy sauce brings salt and savory depth to the Woks of Life dressing.² It’s salty, so taste before you salt the fish any further. If a dish ends up too salty, see too much soy sauce.

Sesame: seeds and oil

Toasted sesame oil is for flavor, not frying. Katzer says dark sesame oil isn’t suitable as a frying medium unless it’s diluted with another oil.⁶ The Woks of Life recipe follows that split, searing in neutral oil and putting 1 teaspoon of sesame oil in the dressing.² The seeds make the crust. See sesame seeds and black sesame seeds vs. white.

Oil

Both recipes sear in a neutral oil: vegetable oil for Moonen, and canola, vegetable or avocado for Leung.¹² You can use olive oil, but neither recipe calls for it.

Dill and other herbs

Fish is one of dill’s uses, though neither tuna recipe here uses it. If you add dill, stir it into a mayonnaise or yogurt sauce or scatter it on at the end. Dill is a delicate herb, so add it at the last minute.⁷ See cooking with dill.

Smoked salt

SaltWorks suggests rolling ahi tuna in a smoked-salt rub before pan searing.⁴ See smoked sea salt uses.

Two recipes side by side

Recipe	Steaks	Crust or rub	Sauce	Sear
Rick Moonen, tuna au poivre, James Beard Foundation archive¹	Four 6-oz	2 tbsp white peppercorns, 4 tsp coriander seeds, coarse salt	None given	30 seconds a side, very hot cast iron
Bill Leung, The Woks of Life²	12 oz, 1½ in thick	2 tbsp each black and white sesame seeds, ¼ tsp sea salt	Mandarin, garlic, ginger, scallion, soy, honey, rice vinegar, sesame oil	30 to 60 seconds a side

These are the named cooks’ recipes, not a house standard.

Doneness: rare tuna and the official guidance

The Woks of Life says ahi is best served on the rare side because it can be dry when fully cooked, and describes the seared steak as cooked outside and still raw inside. It advises buying tuna labeled “sushi grade,” while noting that the term isn’t official or regulated.²

The federal guidance says otherwise. FoodSafety.gov lists tuna among the fin fish to cook to 145°F (63°C), or until the flesh is no longer translucent and separates easily with a fork,⁸ and the FDA says most seafood should be cooked to 145°F. The FDA advises people at greater risk of foodborne illness (pregnant women, children, older adults and people with weakened immune systems) to avoid raw or undercooked fish.⁹ By the recipe’s own description, a 30- to 60-second sear leaves the center raw, so serving tuna rare means going against that guidance. If you’re in a higher-risk group, cook your tuna through.

Tuna au Poivre, Rick Moonen, James Beard Foundation recipe archive. archive.jamesbeard.org · Publication ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵
Seared Ahi Tuna, Bill Leung, The Woks of Life. thewoksoflife.com · Publication ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹
The Major Flavor Difference Between Beni Shoga And Gari Ginger, Corin MJ Bae, Tasting Table. tastingtable.com · Publication ↩
How to Use Smoked Salt, SaltWorks. seasalt.com · Merchant ↩ ↩²
Ginger, Gernot Katzer’s Spice Pages. gernot-katzers-spice-pages.com · Reference work ↩
Sesame, Gernot Katzer’s Spice Pages. gernot-katzers-spice-pages.com · Reference work ↩
Our Guide to Fresh Herbs, Liz Bomze, America’s Test Kitchen. americastestkitchen.com · Publication ↩
Cook to a Safe Minimum Internal Temperature, FoodSafety.gov. foodsafety.gov · Regulator ↩
Selecting and Serving Fresh and Frozen Seafood Safely, U.S. Food and Drug Administration. fda.gov · Regulator ↩

Also drawn on

Dill (revised and updated by Melissa Petruzzello, updated 30 Sep 2026), Encyclopaedia Britannica. britannica.com

The Best Spices for Tuna Steak: Pepper, Coriander, Ginger, Garlic, Soy and Sesame