Tuesday, February 28, 2012

SASHIMI COCKTAIL WITH TUNA AND SALMON


Sashimi Cocktail
“New style sashimi in a martini glass”

I've always enjoyed Nobu's "New Style Sashimi" and have been making it for at least a decade.  This is a little bit of  a spin on the dish, but the underlying ingredients are there.  Sushi-grade tuna and salmon are served with a yuzu and a soy vinaigrette, lightly cooked with a combination of warm oils, then topped with soy and bamboo smoked sesame seeds, paddlefish caviar, pickled ginger and wasabi, garnished with a salmon skin crackle.  The "garnishes" are the fun part.  The salmon skin crackles are a very tasty garnish--sort of like the "olive" in a martini.

Ingredients
·         8 oz. Sushi-grade Salmon, skins reserved
·         8 oz. Sushi-grade Tuna
·         4 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
·         4 Tablespoons Yuzu Juice
·         2 Tablespoons Minced Garlic
·         14 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
·         4 Tablespoons Sesame Oil
·         1 Tablespoon Soy Sesame Seed (or White)
·         1 Tablespoon Bamboo Smoked Sesame Seed (or Black)
·         2 Tablespoons of Paddlefish caviar (or the real stuff )
·         1/4 cup of Daikon, shredded on a Japanese spiral slicer
·         2 Scallions cut on the diagonal
·         8 pieces of Pickled Ginger, for garnish
·         Fresh Wasabi Root, grated on a shark-skin grater (or the tube stuff) for garnish
Make the salmon skin crackles:  Cut salmon skins into 1-inch strips. Heat a sauté pan.  Add about 2 Tablespoons of the oil and fry salmon skins until very crisp. Remove from pan; place on paper towels and set aside.  When cooled down, thread onto stainless steel or bamboo mini skewers. This is the garnish.
Mix the soy and yuzu juices with garlic; set aside.
Cut the salmon and tuna into 1/2" chunks. 
Combine the olive oil and sesame oil in a nonreactive small saucepan. Set over moderately high heat and bring almost to a boil (about 200°); the surface will shimmer. Remove from the heat and  set aside.
To make the martini (or plate):
Line the bottom of four chilled martini glasses with the shredded daikon. Place equal portions of salmon and tuna in each glass. Drizzle the soy/yuzu/garlic mixture on each serving.  Then, pour the warm oil mixture on each one to "lightly" sear the fish.  Sprinkle the scallions and  both sesame seeds on each.  Add a dollop of caviar and about two slices of ginger, and another dollop of wasabi on each.  Garnish each with a salmon skin crackle. Serves 4 

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