Tuna "chutoro" carpaccio with Uni 中トロのカルパッチョの雲丹添え

This is a variation of tuna carpaccio but this is a deluxe version with uni and chutoro 中トロ. I think I made this the second day after we received the goodies from Catalina Offshore products as a very first course of the evening.

Since both tuna sashimi and uni 雲丹 were excellent, I made it very simply. I put splashes of good balsamic vinegar, good olive oil, Kosher salt, freshly cracked black pepper and soy sauce on the bottom of the plate in crisscrossed fashion. I then sliced the chutoro very thinly and place it in one layer on the plate. I sprinkled a halved and thinly sliced red onion and finely chopped garlic chive over the chutoro. In the center, I arrange a circle of thinly sliced cucumber and placed the small mound of uni on top. I garnished with thin nori strips and a dab of real wasabi. I drizzled just a small amount of soy sauce and olive oil over the top. We had this with Napa Cab Angels Landing 2007. This cab is a nice middle-of-the-road Cali cab and went well with this dish but the balsamic vinegar competed a bit with the red wine. For this pairing, I should have omitted the balsamic vinegar. In any case, this is a wonderful dish to start before changing to sake. Oh, the uni was positively excellent.