You will scratch your head in amazement at how easy it is to do this dish, yet how impressive and delicious an appetizer it will make for family and friends. We have done this several times in our household and it gets better and better each time. We are all fans of sashimi, and consume copious amounts of it at Japanese restaurants, so it’s not a surprise that we would take to very thinly sliced raw salmon. But the brilliant part of this quickly dressed fish is the addition of rice vinegar, that quickly cures or cooks the salmon… resulting in a rich fatty fish, salt from the soy sauce, sour from the vinegar and flavor from a hint of sesame oil. On this most recent version, I tried to add candied ginger for a touch of sweetness as well.
This is a Nigella Lawson recipe at its most brilliant… taking a very familiar, comforting dish, salmon sashimi, and just presenting it in a slightly different manner. Here’s how we do it. Get a kilo of good semi-frozen salmon at the seaside market in Baclaran. De-bone it by removing the rather large and obvious pin bones with a tweezer, this sounds hairy but it’s not really. Store this in the fridge until thawed but still very cold, and cut into thin slices, laying the slices out on a large platter, in this case, chilled glass plates, that were then covered in plastic wrap and returned to the fridge to chill. In a bowl, mix say 5 tablespoons of kikkoman soy sauce with 4 tablespoons of rice vinegar. Finely grate some fresh ginger into the sauce and drizzle in a teaspoon or so of good sesame oil. Mix. Chop up some chives or fine green onions for garnish. I also tried to microplane or grate some candied ginger but it turned to mush, and I added that to the sauce as well. If you have really good knife skills, you may want to mince the candied ginger finely and sprinkle it over the salmon as an added garnish. You can do all of this before your guests arrive.
When you are ready to serve lunch or dinner, have your guests sit down at the table, remove your salmon from the fridge and remove the plastic wrap and bring it to the table. Mix your sauce/dressing and drizzle it lightly over your salmon, making sure everything gets a bit of sauce, but isn’t drowning in it. Sprinkle with green onions and candied ginger (if using) and that’s it! Chow time. We like to eat this with chopsticks. :) I haven’t done it yet, but if we ate this with a bowl of steaming rice, I suspect with would then morph into a “Sushi-Kilaw”… :)
9 Responses
yum..too bad the only salmon i can get here is always rock-hard with freezer burn at the edges ;-(
Millet, I suspect this treatment works reasonably well with really good tuna sliced thinly as well… it won’t have the characteristic fatty richness of salmon, but it might still be a hit. And there must be great tuna in your part of the archipelago… :)
oh yes, excellent tuna, that we have. yes, i could do this with the fattiest tuna i can get. thanks for the idea, MM!
wasabi & mirin na lang ang kulang for a complete sashimi dish
Maruchan vinegar/salad dressing is what I use..already seasoned to our taste..excellent reminder, MM..frequently, I’m at a loss for what to cook…
Not specifically to advance the conversation but I just came across a review of Michael Pollan’s Cooked: A Natural History Of Transformation. I chuckled at the reviewer’s characterization of the inspirer of this post because it goes this way, “Nigella Lawson’s phone-sex cooing makes me grind my teeth.” If this is true, I’ve got to start watching her program. She’s sounds more exciting that my kitchen goddesses of old, Diane Kennedy and the late Julia Child.
https://www.salon.com/2013/04/21/cooked_michael_pollan_takes_kitchen_duty/
I really wish I could drop by the Baclaran seaside market one of these days. Whenever I wanted good sashimi I dropped by at Farmer’s in Cubao but the last time I was there was about 3 years ago so I’m not so sure it’s still a good source for raw fish. Now that I moved back closer to Farmer’s I’m raring to get a nice sashimi fix. Though I know MM that you source most of your seafood in Baclaran when in Manila, would you still recommend Farmer’s nowadays? Also if I may be so bold as to go a step further and ask if you have a fishmonger you would recommend in Farmer’s :)
Andrew, farmers is still viewed to be a relatively good source for fish, and turnover there is swift, a good sign. I have noticed 2-3 vendors there with salmon and tuna… the salmon is brought in frozen from the Pacific Northwest, so as long as the salmon you buy is still frozen or semi-frozen on its way to being displayed, then that is as good as the Baclaran market as well. As for tuna, apparently, most tuna has been previously frozen (also good for getting rid of parasites), so just pick based on color, muscle or litid and lack of aroma…
Footloose, hahaha, “phone-sex cooing” is so appropriate a description… and she is gaining weight, beyond being voluptuous even… :)
alex deli and seafoods in farmers market are my source of best quality salmon and seafoods. most of the fish vendors and on some grocery get their stock at alex in farmers market.