Tonight's dinner...salmon poke, seared salmon poke, seared salmon sashimi and seared spicy salmon...on sushi rice. The little monkeys love this stuff. Big monkeys too.
enlighten us with some recipes / directions for this. BTW, there is a recipe subforum at "back to basics" . It looks tasty. info on the sauces / marinades etc please. Nice pictures.
Tried poke when lived in hawaii.. did not take to it ... Would eat it again but don't have dreams about it..
First thing is that I always salt cure salmon. A sushi chef taught this to me years ago and I always do it whether I eat it raw or cook it. But only for salmon. Just cover the salmon top and bottom with table salt and let it sit at room temperature. I usually do 1-2 hours depending on the size. I did two hours with a 20" fillet. You will see lots of water and slime get sucked out of the fish. This will take the fishy taste out and make the flesh firmer. Key point is to wash it off really well so it won't be salty. For sushi, I sometimes give it a quick rice vinegar wash, then pat it dry. At some point between now or after I cut it, the salmon will go into the freezer for a quick chill since it will be room temperature after the salt cure. Sounds like a lot, but really isn't because most of the time, it will be sitting there. Ok. on to the "recipes." I pretty much don't use recipes per se so will have no measurements. They are all eyeball and taste adjusted. Poke is marinated raw fish. For the salmon, I cut up some onion and green onion and toss it in a bowl. I sprinkle a little salt and pour some sesame oil on and mix. Usually, I use hiwa kai or alae salt. Hiwa Kai is black volcanic sea salt and alas is Hawaiian sea salt with red clay. But really, sea salt will do and just a little pinch. Can always add more. Then I cube the salmon and mix it in. You can always add more salt and sesame oil to taste. I add chili peppers on the side. I like spicy, but my kids don't. So mine, I put a lot. For yours, to taste. Mix it and eat or put it in the fridge. I think it tastes better after sitting in the fridge for a little while to give the salt some time to melt and the flavors to incorporate. I also like it with seaweed inside, but my little monkeys don't. I really like sea asparagus. Will put that on my portion of poke, but also will eat that plain, in salads and on rice. Pricey, but delicious. The seared stuff... I just cut the salmon into slices of sashimi. On some, I put a tiny sprinkle of the seasoning mix I make. For simplicity, salt and pepper will do. for the spicy ones, I cover with a sauce. The sauce is a little mayonnaise, a lot of Shiracha chili sauce and a pinch of my seasoning (salt and pepper is fine). Sear it with a torch. I also sear the poke with a torch too. It is good raw and seared. And then with the poke, sometimes I will sear it on a frying pan. Fried poke is also excellent eaten as it. Really good in omelets too. All served on sushi rice. And if you like, you can dip with soy sauce and wasabi. Sorry for the wordiness. Hope that helps.
