Hamachi Crudo with Orange, Avocado and Citrus-Soy Dressing
This is one of my go-to recipes whenever I have some really fresh fish on hand and don’t want to over-complicate things. It takes very little time to throw together and is super refreshing and delicious. The great thing about this recipe is how flexible it is. You can substitute almost any fish that you would typically serve raw. I have used tuna, salmon, fluke…..they all work very well.
Citrus-Soy Dressing
The citrus-soy dressing is really what makes this dish so versatile, delicious, and easy to make. It already contains all of the salt and acidity necessary to properly season the dish. This means that all you have to do is cut your fish and garnishes, put them on the plate, and drizzle the sauce on top. The dish should need almost no seasoning adjustments at this point. Easy.
Cutting and plating the ingredients.
For this recipe I have cut everything into a small-medium dice and plated it on a small, flat plate. That being said you can certainly change the way you cut the ingredients and plate them. This dish would work very well cut in the same fashion, but served in a small bowl with the sauce pooling up a bit at the bottom of the bowl. You could also slice the fish and avocado thinly and shingle them on a flat plate. The way you serve this dish is up to you. Just make sure everything is nice and cold before serving, including the plates.
Purchasing fish suitable for raw preparations
This may be the most daunting aspect of serving raw fish for most people. You need to make sure that the fish you are using is extremely fresh. It should have almost no odor. If it smells even faintly fishy, get rid of it, or use it in a cooked application. If you live in a major city or near the coast, it may be a lot easier to find super-fresh fish. Look for markets that sell fish intended to be used for sushi, or find a reliable fishmonger who can help you out.
Hamachi Crudo with Orange, Avocado and Citrus-Soy Dressing
Ingredients
- 5 oz super-fresh hamachi fillet, no skin or bones (can also use very fresh tuna, salmon, fluke…..etc)
- 1/2 ripe avocado
- 1 orange (cara-cara orange if available)
- 1/8th of a whole jalapeno
- a few picked cilantro leaves
Citrus-Soy Dressing
- zest of 2/3 lemon
- 1/2 garlic clove
- 3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 2.5 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 scallion
Instructions
Citrus-Soy Dressing
- Use a Microplane or fine zester to zest 2/3 of a lemon into a small bowl.
- Use a Microplance to grate 1/2 a clove of garlic into the same bowl. This should yield about 1/4 tsp. grated garlic. If you do not have a microplane, simply mince the garlic finely and smear the garlic with the side of your knife to turn it into a paste.
- Add 2.5 Tbsp soy sauce, 3 Tbsp lemon juice, 1/2 tsp sugar and 1 Tbsp olive oil to the same bowl. Stir until sugar has dissolved.
- Remove the roots from the scallion and slice the entire scallion very thinly. Separate the white and light green parts from the darker green parts.
- Add the white and light green parts of the scallion to the sauce and set the sauce aside. Keep the dark green parts of the scallion for garnishing the finished dish. The sauce should be pleasantly salty and sour.
Assembly
- Refrigerate the serving plate or bowl until ready to serve.
- Make sure the fish is very fresh and there are no bones or skin on the fillet.
- Cut the fish into 1/3rd inch cubes. Keep cold until ready to serve.
- Cut the top and bottom off of the orange.
- Use a sharp knife to cut away the pith.
- You should be left with a skinless orange without any pith left behind.
- Use a knife to cut in between the membranes and cut out each orange segment.
- Cut the orange segments into roughly 1/3rd inch pieces. Set orange pieces aside until ready to plate.
- Use a very sharp knife to slice the jalapeno into super-thin slices. You will only need about 8-10 slices. Set the jalapeno slices aside until ready to plate.
- Don't cut the avocado until you are ready to serve the dish. If you cut it too soon it will start to brown on you. You will only be using half of the avocado, save the other half for another application.
- Cut the avocado half into 2 pieces to yield quarters.
- Peel back the skin from each quarter avocado. Use a spoon if necessary.
- Cut each quarter avocado in half again to yield 1/8ths and then cut these wedges into 1/3 inch chunks.
- On a cold plate, evenly place all of the diced fish.
- Drizzle all of the citrus-soy dressing over the fish and onto the plate. Randomly arrange the rest of the ingredients on the plate (orange, avocado, jalapeno slices, cilantro, and the reserved scallion greens). The dish should not need any additional seasoning but give it a taste and if you feel it needs an adjustment, sprinkle on a little salt and/or lemon juice.
