Tuna & Yellow Tail Poke with Butternut Squash

I first made this for a dinner party we had with another couple where the theme was butternut squash and I included it in every dish.  I wanted to showcase butternut squash in a new way and decided to sous vide it to maintain a firm texture and shape and yet be fully cooked.  Yuzu goes well with raw fish and it works with the squash too.  The butternut squash adds a lovely element of taste and color.

8 oz sushi grade tuna

4 oz sushi grade yellow tail

1/2 cup cucumber 

1 cup butternut squash

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp cilantro chopped

2 tsp toasted sesame seeds

3 tsp yuzu juice

Prepare the squash ahead of time.  Cut into a uniform small dice (about 3/8 inch).  Heat sous vide to 185F.  Freeze 2 tsp of yuzu juice and vacuum seal with cubed squash on high.  Cook in sous vide for 1.5 hours then immerse in ice water to stop cooking.  

Cut tuna, yellow tail, and cucumber into a uniform small dice.  Gently combine the tuna, yellow tail, cucumber, 1/2 the squash, soy sauce, cilantro, sesame seeds, and remaining tsp of yuzu juice.  (With yuzu a little bit can go a long way and it opens up with time and increases in flavor so be careful not to add too much)  Center a ring mold on a plate and fill 3/4 of the way with the poke then top off with the butternut squash.  I like to keep some of the squash separate to maintain its beautiful orange color.

The little orange blobs with green are my attempt at creativity and trying to kick my presentation up a few notches.  Didn't quite turn out like I hoped but I'm making progress.  They kind of dried out and became flimsy by the time I used them.  Should have stored them in an air tight container.  They actually tasted pretty good and were a very different texture from the sous vide squash.

Butternut squash leather
butternut squash juice (200g)
simple syrup (30g)
a splash of yuzu
grated ginger (5g)
agar agar (1g)

Mix all ingredients in a sauce pan and bring to a boil then run through chinois and pour onto acetate (spray with cooking spray and wipe off with paper towl).  The mixture will firm as it cools.

Cilantro Sauce (this recipe is from Alinea) 
1 bunch of cilantro
2000g of water & 75g salt for blanching
250g ice water
2.5g salt
10g simple syrup
10g ultra-tex 3

Pick leaves from stems and blanch in boiling water for 3 minutes and transfer to ice water to cool.  Drain and place in blender.  Add 250g ice water and blend on high speed until smooth.  Strain through chinois and reserve in covered container.
Return strained liquid to clean blender.  With blender running on low speed add 2.5g salt, 10g simple syrup, and 10g ultra-tex 3.  Blend thoroughly and strain through chinois.  Reserve in squeeze container.

I cut out circles of the squash leather and cut smaller circles out of them and squeezed in the cilantro sauce.  The problem with that was the cilantro sauce is thick however I had to dehydrate it to firm it so that I could be able to transport it and this dried out the squash leather a bit too much.  I had actually made the cilantro sauce for something else and this was an afterthought.  You can see the sauce squirted on the finished plate as well.  Next time I'll have to modify the cilantro with agar agar so it sets.  Here's a picture of before it went in the dehydrator.