Spicy Tuna Avocado Tower

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A spicy tuna avocado tower is a gorgeous, fun, and super easy appetizer using crispy fried wonton wrappers, sushi-grade tuna, ripe avocados, and delicious spicy mayo. Perfect for any dinner occasion! 

Serve these amazing appetizers with an equally impressive main course to impress your date! Try a pan-seared New York strip steak, easy salmon en papillote, or creamy mushroom risotto.

A spicy tuna avocado tower is a gorgeous, fun, and super easy appetizer using crispy fried wonton wrappers, sushi-grade tuna, ripe avocados, and delicious spicy mayo. Perfect for any dinner occasion! 

As seen in Essence Magazine November 2018 Issue!

I am bringing you 'end of summer' send-off with this recipe. Because brace yourselves...the fall recipes are coming.

But this is for you lucky ducks who are getting those slightly cooler summer evenings. The ones that are just nice to sit outside and enjoy some al fresco dinner for an at-home date night. This is such a great appetizer that's so simple to throw together, it's sophisticated enough to wow your date but it's also casual enough for game night.

At least, it is to me. I can't be the only one.

This recipe is a restaurant copycat, though the restaurant is only local to Fort Lauderdale. There's a beach-front Asian-fusion place called Tsukuro on Fort Lauderdale beach and they serve 'spicy tuna towers' as an appetizer.

A $20 appetizer.

a head on shot of the entire spicy tuna tower with crispy wonton strips on top

It's really delicious, hence me recreating it, but I literally bought all the ingredients for $8 for two huge spicy tuna avocado towers that my hubby and I just devoured for dinner.

The amount I put in the recipe can make four very nice sized towers or two generous -and I do mean generous- towers if you are just a glutton for spicy tuna like we are.

How to Make Spicy Tuna

It looks impressive, but it's super easy to pull together.

First thing's first: you must have sushi-grade fresh tuna. The word must is the keyword here. 

Sushi-grade tuna means that it has put through a process that ensures the tuna is safe to eat raw.

Fish that isn't sushi-grade doesn't mean that it's inherently dangerous, but it has the ability to have a harmful parasite or bacteria that would be killed off when cooked. Sushi-grade fish is much less likely because it has been processed (usually through a specific freezing process) and has been declared safe.  

close up of the ingredients in a spicy tuna tower, there's sesame seeds and scallions clinging onto the diced tuna and avocado

The raw tuna is then diced and chopped, then mixed with a spicy mayo sauce. Boom, spicy tuna.

To make spicy mayo all you need is mayonnaise, preferably Kewpie brand (which is a popular Japanese mayo that tastes different than Western mayo), and a hot sauce. I love sriracha because it's low on the Scoville scale and doesn't give off too much heat, but you can use what you like.

To make the spicy tuna towers, you fry up the wonton wrappers in a pan, then dice and chop up the tuna and avocados, whip up the spicy mayo, and put the towers together.

See? So easy. You can even cut up one wonton wrapper into strips, fry them, and put them on top for a pretty presentation, like I did.a side view of the tuna avocado towers with crispy wonton layers

Boom. A great dish that embodies summer: fresh, easy, and fun.

Can I make these ahead of time?

You can prepare every part of these tuna towers a day ahead, then stack the towers when ready to serve. Remember, raw fish is only good for about a day or two, so you can't make this a week in advance or anything.

Looking for more seafood? Check out:

Ahi Tuna Poke Bowls

Authentic Southern Shrimp and Grits

Warm Butter Lobster Rolls

Shrimp Scampi 

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📖 Recipe

Spicy Tuna Avocado Towers

Eden Westbrook
A spicy tuna avocado tower is a gorgeous, fun, and super easy appetizer using crispy fried wonton wrappers, sushi-grade tuna, ripe avocados, and delicious spicy mayo. Perfect for any dinner occasion!  
4.73 from 29 votes
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 3 minutes
Total Time 8 minutes
Course Appetizers
Cuisine American
Servings 2 -4 towers
Calories 617 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup 240 mL vegetable oil
  • 8-16 wonton wrappers
  • ½ teaspoon 3g kosher salt
  • 1 lb sushi-grade ahi tuna diced into small ½ inch pieces
  • 2 ripe avocadoes diced into ½ inch pieces

Spicy Mayo

  • cup 30g mayonnaise, preferably Kewpie brand
  • 1-2 tablespoon 15-30g sriracha, depending on your love of spiciness
  • Juice of half a lemon
  • 2 teaspoon 10 mL sesame oil
  • Sesame seeds tobiko, finely sliced green onions, for garnish

Instructions
 

  • Heat vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Once up to 325 degrees F (160 degrees C), fry wontons, one or two at a time, for 10 seconds, then use tongs to flip the wontons over and fry for another 10 seconds, until the wontons are browned and bubbly.
  • Place the fried wontons on a paper towel-lined plate, then sprinkle wontons with a pinch of salt. Repeat these steps until all wontons are fried.
  • In a medium bowl, mix together the ingredients for the spicy mayo and set aside.
  • In a large bowl, gently mix together the diced tuna and avocado. Then dollop two spoonfuls of the spicy mayo and gently mix in, adding more if desired to coat the fish and avocado to taste.

To Serve

  • On a plate, lay a foundation layer of the wonton wrapper, then top it with the spicy tuna mixture, making that layer as even as possible so the next wonton will sit as flat as possible. Top the spicy tuna later with another wonton, then top that with more spicy tuna, and repeat until you have about 3-4 wontons used.
  • Top the last wonton with the spicy tuna mix. Garnish with tobiko, sesame seeds, and green onions, if desired.
  • Serve immediately, as the wontons will get soggy.

Notes

To make a fun, curly wonton topping as seen in the photos, cut a couple of wonton wrapper into strips and fry them until brown and bubbly, then let rest on a paper-towel-lined plate until ready to top the tuna towers

Nutrition

Serving: 1gCalories: 617kcalCarbohydrates: 58gProtein: 19gFat: 36gSaturated Fat: 5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 29gCholesterol: 49mgSodium: 607mgFiber: 10gSugar: 12g
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10 Comments

  1. Pingback: 40+ Fish Recipes For Lent - Drugstore Divas
  2. We had these as appetisers on Christmas Day and they were a hit!
    I substituted the tuna for fresh salmon due to local availability and they we SO delicious.
    Look really fancy but are a cinch to make.

    1. Eden Westbrook says:

      I'm so happy y'all loved them! Salmon is my favorite substitute for fresh tuna, I know your dish was a knockout. Thanks for commenting!

  3. Nathan Wyper says:

    Wow, This looks amazing.. I just want to dig in! Can't wait to try this!

  4. These look like an appetizer you would get in a super fancy restaurant! So beautiful and your recipe makes it look so easy!

  5. This is definitely an impressive appetizer! Such a great recipe.

  6. Hey - I live in Boca, but I've never been to this restaurant before. Need to check it out -- and definitely need to make this tuna tower!

    1. It’s right on that strip on Ft Lauderdale beach Blvd, it’s a pretty nice place to eat and enjoy the evening al fresco. Thanks for stopping by, Lisa!

  7. Caitlyn Erhardt says:

    This looks so good! I love how fast and simple this is. Thanks for the recipe and beautiful photos!