Family Story
“Restaurant Behavior”
Growing up with four kids in the family, my parents (understandably) did not take us out too often for super fancy meals – more often than not we would end up at a noisy pizza parlor where our failure to adhere to “restaurant behavior” was not such a problem. One of the first relatively nice places I remember dining at was Rio City Café, right on the river in Old Sac, starting around junior high or even high school. We went a few times, mostly because of this one appetizer dish they had, called “Chinese Nachos”, that was amazing. They were just like regular nachos, but Asian-style and fancy: fried wontons instead of tortilla chips, and sushi-grade ahi tuna instead of chili.
My sophomore year in high school, the Rio Student Government was selling cookbooks full of recipes from local restaurants as a fundraiser, and to my pleasant surprise, the Chinese Nachos were included! Once I had the recipe, it quickly became a tradition for me to make the dish every year on Mother’s Day.
Source: Rio City Cafe
Ingredients
- 4 ounces sushi-grade Ahi tuna
- 1 bunch scallions, chopped
- 2 tomatoes, chopped to medium dice
- Black sesame seeds, toasted
- 1 bag of wonton skins
- 1 cup vegetable oil, plus more for frying
- ½ cup ginger, peeled and chopped
- 1/8 cup garlic, peeled and chopped
- ½ bunch cilantro
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- ¼ cup sesame oil
- Juice of 4 limes
- ¼ cup rice wine vinegar
- Salt
Instructions
Finely dice the Ahi, scallions, and tomatoes, and then return to refrigerator until ready to put everything together. In a deep pan, lightly fry the wontons in vegetable oil (temperature should be at about 350°)
In a blender or food processor, combine vinaigrette ingredients – ginger, garlic, cilantro, soy sauce, sesame oil, 1 cup vegetable oil, lime juice, and rice wine vinegar – and add salt to taste.
When ready to serve, toss together tuna, green onions, and tomatoes with vinaigrette until ingredients are coated. Spread crispy wontons on a plate, leaving some out to place around the dish at the end. Add the tuna mixture all over. Garnish with black sesame seeds.
Rachel’s
Secrets of Success
- Make sure the tuna is sushi-grade and keep it well chilled. I often make a bunch of wontons, and only serve a plateful at a time, replenishing as necessary, so they don’t get prematurely soggy. Also, I generally spread the tuna, tomatoes, and scallions across the wontons, then pour some of the dressing across the top, rather than mix them all beforehand.
- If you have extra wonton skins left in the package and some bananas on hand, fry up some banana wontons for dessert.
“In Mexico, we have a word for sushi: bait.”
Jose Simons
Cooking with the Claremons 
Leave a comment