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No cook fish recipes for summer

August 26, 2016 8 Comments Filed Under: Food, Recipes, Uncategorized

Peruvian Sea Bass Ceviche Recipe
Hawaiian Tuna Poke Recipe

This week has been horrendous. In London, the air has been still with barely a breath of wind. The humidity has been oppressive. My menopausal hot sweats have taken on epic proportions. I can’t wear make-up because it slides off my face. My head has been pounding because it’s been high pressure or low pressure, or one of those. The one that gives you a headache.

My daughter went to the Tate gallery with her friend Tiger yesterday.

‘Mum, all I could see was older women fanning themselves.’
‘Were they middle aged?’
‘No, they were old. It lasts for decades,’ she said, commiserating. ‘Tiger said her mum is the same. Her mum’s been crying too.’

She’s referring to the meltdown last week when I sobbed, while giving her driving practice, from Camden to Cricklewood.

‘NOBODY LIKES ME. I HAVE NO FRIENDS. I HAVE NO WORK. I’M BROKE. I’M OLD. NO ONE FANCIES ME. MY LIFE IS SHIT. FROM HERE IT’S JUST DEATH.’ 

Dimly, through the blurry tears, I heard my daughter saying, while trying to negotiate traffic, the same stuff to me that I say to her along the lines of This Too Will Pass: “Nothing lasts forever, even pain and depression.”

But I’m glad I didn’t go on HRT because science. Even though just last year the powers that be said it was ok. FFS. 

The last thing you want to do on a muggy summer’s day is to make your kitchen even warmer by cooking. The solution? Make a ‘no cook’ fish dish. Most cultures with a long coast line have some kind of raw fish dish. Examples include ceviche, gravad lax or poke.

You have probably heard of Peruvian ceviche, whereby raw fish is ‘cooked’ with lime juice, and the Scandinavian gravad lax, where raw fish is cured. The new trend to watch out for is Hawaiian ‘poke’, another raw fish delicacy.

You may wonder about food safety. Some fishmongers claim their fish is ‘sashimi grade’, but this is not a clear-cut standard. “There is no definition of ‘sashimi grade’ fish,” says Harry Toyoda of T&S Enterprises London Ltd who supply fish to Japanese shops and restaurants. “It’s a grey area.”

For any business to sell raw fish, British health and safety law requires it first to be flash frozen, a measure that kills parasites. But, Toyoda continues: “In Japan no sushi bar would use frozen fish. Freezing salmon is not too bad, but to freeze seabass is such a shame. It changes the quality and texture.”

The methods in these recipes of ‘cooking’ raw fish render it safe to eat, except for the poke. All fishmongers claim their fish is fresh so how do you know?  Develop a relationship with a good fishmonger and only buy from one you trust.
Supermarket fish is usually at least 10 days old. When I did a course at Billingsgate (fascinating and well worth it), I had to extract, with tweezers, at least 10 worms from a slab of fish. You know those white patches you sometimes see on pink salmon? Those are lice. Sorry to be yucky. So a good supplier is essential.
Hawaiian Tuna Poke Recipe

Hawaiian Tuna Poke Recipe

You can buy candlenuts from souschef.co.uk, but macadamias are a good substitute. Both nuts are buttery, oil rich and dense, to the point that the former can be burnt like candles (hence the name). Good tuna should be red, not brown.

Serves 4

For the marinade:
1 tbsp black sesame seeds
1 tbsp white sesame seeds
2 tbsp (or 2 sheets) nori seaweed, toasted, crumbled
2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
2 tbsp soy sauce
Juice of 1/2 lime

350g tuna, skinned, cut into 1.5cm cubes
2 spring onions, sliced thinly
1 ripe avocado, diced
3 tbsp candlenuts, lightly roasted then crushed

Mix the marinade ingredients together, sesame seeds, nori, oil, soy and lime.
Then add the tuna, spring onions, avocado and candlenuts to the marinade. Toss and chill for half an hour. Eat with steamed sushi rice.

Scandinavian Gravad Lax Recipe

Scandinavian Gravad Lax Recipe

250g caster sugar
200g rock salt
2 tbsp crushed white pepper
Zest of 1 lemon
1 tbsp crushed juniper berries
2 x approximately 400g of the centre portion of a salmon, preferably of the same thickness
A decent glug of Aquavit
Large bunch of dill, fronds chopped finely

Mix together the sugar, salt, pepper, lemon zest and juniper berries.
To prevent overflow of the curing liquid into your fridge, use a non reactive baking tray with a lip (that also fits in your fridge).
Spread 1/4 of the sugar/salt mixture on the tray. Place one piece of the salmon, skin side down, on the tray and spread half of the mixture on top along with the dill. Then place the other salmon piece, skin side upwards, on top. Spread the rest of the sugar/salt mixture over the skin.
Pour on the Aquavit (or vodka or gin).
Weigh down the salmon with a chopping board or plate plus something heavy on top. Leave the salmon at room temperature until the salt and sugar dissolve then place it in the fridge. After 24 hours, remove the weights and flip over the salmon ‘sandwich’. Replace the weights and leave in the fridge for another 24 hours.
Remove from the fridge and cut a little slice from the centre of the salmon. Does it taste cured and not raw? Then it is ready. (If it is too salty, you can rinse the salmon.)
Cut D shape slices and serve with crisp bread and pickled cucumbers.

Peruvian Sea Bass Ceviche Recipe

Peruvian Sea Bass Ceviche Recipe

Authenticity points are gained if somehow you’ve managed to get hold of aji amarillo, a yellow Peruvian chilli pepper. You can buy the paste online, but any fresh chilli will work.

350g fresh sea bass, skinned, sliced thinly
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
Big handful of fresh coriander, leaves picked off
Juice of 3 limes
1 tsp sea salt (or more, to taste)
1 fresh chilli, red or green, deseeded, sliced thinly

Mix all the ingredients together and let it marinate for around 30 minutes or until the translucent fish has turned white. When you’ve eaten the fish, don’t discard the juice at the end. This precious ‘tiger’s milk’ is wonderful mopped up with boiled then skinned cold sweet potatoes, as eaten in Peru.

Scandinavian Gravad Lax Recipe
tuna poke

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Comments

  1. MMRG

    August 26, 2016 at 6:39 pm

    Thanks for the white lice on salmon info. Mind you I never buy that kind as it's farmed.

    Reply
  2. Maria Grist

    August 26, 2016 at 11:20 pm

    I have bought so called sashimi grade salmon at the fish mongers. Such a fast dinner in summer and much nicer raw than cooked. I'm keen to try all of these recipes now.

    Reply
    • Kerstin Rodgers aka MsMarmiteLover

      August 27, 2016 at 8:42 am

      Let me know how you get on Maria x

      Reply
  3. Nic M

    August 27, 2016 at 7:16 am

    Kerstin, I was resistant to HRT too until I finally went to the doctor. She asked me to consider whether years of severe anxiety, irritability, depression, bloating, weight gain, dry skin, hair loss and general desiccation of the soul was worth tolerating in exchange for avoiding a very small rise in risk of developing breast cancer (especially as I have none of the other risk factors for BC). She asked me to think about the life I have and what it was worth to me in my (then) current distressed state.

    I've been on HRT for three weeks now and I am me again- an optimal version of 50 year old me. My skin is soft, my hair is thicker, my husband is amazed at the way I have regained my equilibrium. The three years of misery I have experienced wasn't worth it for the damage it did to my sense of self, my confidence. Your risk factors are personal to you of course but I know of no female doctors over 50 who are not on HRT and these are super-cautious evidence-based people (I know a lot of doctors, my sample size is not small).

    Talk to a good female doctor. This can go on for years.

    Reply
    • Kerstin Rodgers aka MsMarmiteLover

      August 27, 2016 at 8:51 am

      What are the risk factors for breast cancer?

      Reply
  4. 凉心薄荷

    September 4, 2016 at 12:58 am

    看起来还不错!

    Reply
  5. 凉心薄荷

    September 4, 2016 at 12:59 am

    看起来还不错!大妹子你在中国火了一把

    Reply
  6. Erica Isotta Surace

    September 6, 2016 at 12:23 pm

    Hello! I was surfing the web in order to find a nice recipe of the Peruvian ceviche which I had while I was there on holidays during summer. I just found your website and I appreciate the high quality of content: this recipe is something I have never heard of before and I really want to try! Thank you for sharing with us!

    Reply

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MsMarmiteLover aka Kerstin Rodgers.

Chef, photographer, author, journalist, blogger. Pioneer of the supperclub movement.

This is my food and travel blog, with recipes, reviews and travel stories. I also stray into politics, feminism, gardening.

Kerstin Rodgers/MsMarmiteLover

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