SETH: Elio.

ELIO: Hey.

SETH: Nice to meet you.

ELIO: Nice meeting you.

SETH: Thank you so much for having me.

ELIO: Good.

SETH: I'm excited to be here.

ELIO: Welcome in.

SETH: I see a beautiful tuna steak right here.

What are you making today?

ELIO: Sure.

We're gonna make a very popular dish from Mexico City, that it calls, tuna tostadas.

Lot of places in Mexico, they have their own version.

Um, I'm gonna show you mine.

SETH: Well, that sounds great.

So how do you get started here?

ELIO: So, uh, first of all, we're gonna make a quick marinade.

We're gonna use, uh, olive oil.

We're gonna use miso paste.

SETH: That nice umami flavor.

ELIO: We're gonna use the lemon skin.

SETH: Oh, the rinds of the lemon, so we get that nice, uh, those nice oils.

ELIO: Oils and, uh, citrus.

We're gonna mix these ingredients together, and we're gonna let it sit.

It has to, to sit for at least one night because I use one of the flavors of the miso paste and the citrus-y of the lemon skins.

SETH: To kind of get infused into the oil?

ELIO: Sure.

SETH: Got it.

ELIO: I have one that I already sit all night... SETH: Okay.

Oh, so this is nice infused, miso-infused oil right here?

ELIO: Mm-hmm.

SETH: All right.

ELIO: Yeah.

And then we're gonna start, uh, slicing the tuna.

SETH: Okay.

So I'm guessing this is, uh, some pretty fresh tuna right here.

ELIO: Yeah, this is sashimi-grade tuna.

SETH: And you know with the miso paste and the tuna almost feels like there's a, a lot of Asian ingredients going into this, uh, dish.

ELIO: Yeah, in Mexico City, we have like a big influence from Japanese cuisines.

It's kind of a melting pot of cultures in cuisine.

So yeah, I, I guess Mexicans, we're inspired by the Japanese.

SETH: And you're not gonna end up cooking this tuna at all.

You're just gonna... ELIO: No.

SETH: Just gonna marinate it?

Nice, nice, and raw?

ELIO: Has to be raw, yes.

SETH: Okay.

ELIO: Yes, so we're gonna add the tuna here to the marinade together.

Just gonna add a little salt and pepper.

SETH: This is pretty, uh, pretty light seasoning.

Just wanna let the flavor of the tuna kinda shine through.

ELIO: Yeah, basically I just want, like, shiny, citrus-y.

So we're gonna mix all this together, and we're gonna let it sit, and, uh, while I let it sit, I'm gonna show you how we make our tortillas.

SETH: Oh, nice.

Can't have a tostada without a tortilla.

ELIO: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

First, we need a tortilla.

This is our tortilla press.

So I'm using a blue corn from Oaxaca.

So we're really proud at here at Taqueria because we make our own masa.

It's a really complicated process, and we have three different kinds.

We have white, we have yellow, and blue.

SETH: And why the blue corn for this, uh, particular dish?

ELIO: I's softer than than the yellow, I find it.

Uh, when you deep-fry it, it's easier.

It's more crunchy.

That crunchy, uh, texture.

So basically, you're gonna put it in the center.

I'm gonna start pressing it.

So finally you're gonna get something like this.

SETH: And just like that, you have a tortilla.

ELIO: So now I'm gonna do one more.

SETH: Okay, this is a labor-intensive process here.

ELIO: Yeah.

SETH: I guess... ELIO: That's why we have a tortilla machine, though.

SETH: Right.

ELIO: You know, it's always fun if you're at home and just making this.

SETH: Yeah.

ELIO: So now that we have the second one, the next step is to cook the tortillas.

I'm gonna put them on the flat top.

After they cook, I'm gonna deep-fry them, and then whenever they're ready, I'm gonna put all the ingredients together, which is serrano mayo.

Then we're gonna add the tuna.

And then we're gonna put a reduction of ponzu sauce.

I'm gonna add fresh cucumbers, avocado puree.

We're gonna top it with some fried leeks and more ponzu sauce.

And then we'll be ready to enjoy it.

SETH: Chef, this looks so good.

I can't wait to try it.

Should I take a tostada for myself here?

ELIO: Sure, go ahead.

SETH: All right.

ELIO: I'm gonna grab one, the other one.

SETH: Are we talking knife and fork here?

ELIO: No, actually, no, you need to grab it and make a mess.

SETH: Make a mess.

All right, let's do it.

ELIO: Okay.

(crunch) SETH: That certainly is a messy dish but so flavorful, so delicious.

I love the crunch of the tortilla, but mixed with all those other textures like the fresh tuna, the cucumber, and what's the, um, what's the garnish on top?

ELIO: It's fried leek.

SETH: Oh, fried leeks.

All right, I like, too, the the mayo and the sauce.

That's really, really good.

ELIO: Yeah, right?

SETH: Yeah.

ELIO: So basically for the mayo, uh, what I was thinking is, uh, whenever you have, like, sashimi or sushi, you know, that you, you, you have the option to have wasabi, right?

Something spicy.

So I want to use, uh, substitute that using Mexican ingredients, so I used serrano peppers and some of the leek, so that way you mix.

SETH: So you have the, uh, the Asian influence with the miso, uh, but for the mayo, you go with the... ELIO: Sure, definitely.

SETH: Just the Mexican feeling.

ELIO: Yeah, whenever you wanna mix, like, two different cuisines, we have this big influence like Japanese influence, so that's the point to make this, you know?

SETH: I like, too, just how sort of light the dish is.

It's so bright and citrus-y.

ELIO: Sure, yeah, you know, like, I want to, to show that Mexican food could be, uh, other textures and other techniques to cook and mix together.

I also wanna show that you know, in Mexico, we have a big coast, a great coast, so, uh, we use a lot of seafood, too.

It's not only, you know, meat or chicken.

SETH: Well, I just love how unique this is.

I haven't tried anything like this in the DC area, so thank you for bringing a little taste of Mexico City here to Virginia.

This was delicious.

ELIO: Thank you, Seth.