New “Kine” Nairagi Sashimi with Fresh Ogo Salad
This recipe carries us deep into the heart of Japanese-influenced Hawaiian cuisine. Since it asks the cook to cure and smoke striped marlin, as well as to whip up a seaweed salad, it must be considered a rather ambitions adventure in the kitchen.
Ingredients
- Cured and Smoked Nairagi
- Sashimi-grade loin of nairagi - 6 oz (striped marlin or yellowfin or bluefin tuna fillet)
- Black Sesame Seeds - 1 tablespoon, toasted
- Brown Sugar - 2 tablespoons, packed
- Granulated Sugar - 1/4 cup
- Kosher salt - 1 tablespoon
- Maui Onion - 1 tablespoon, chopped (alt. other sweet white onion)
- Basil - 1 teaspoon, minced fresh
- Dill - 1 teaspoon, snipped fresh
- Ogo Salad
- Ogo (seaweed) - 6 ounces, red and green if available
- Maui Onion - 1 small (alt. other sweet white onion), cut into 1/4-inch julienne
- Tomato - 1 small, seeded and cut into 1/4-inch julienne
- Green Onion - 1 tablespoon 1/4-inch diagonally-cut, including some of the green top
- Bean sprouts - 3 ounces, fresh
- Japanese cucumber - 1/4 cup, finely julienned
- Carrot - 1 tablespoon, finely julienned
- Cilantro - 1 tablespoon, minced fresh
- Sesame Oil - 2 tablespoons, toasted
- Soy Sauce - 2 tablespoons
- Olive Oil - 2 tablespoons
- Ginger - 2 teaspoons, minced fresh
- Red Pepper Flakes - 1 teaspoon
- Garlic - 1 teaspoon, minced
- Chili Oil - 1 teaspoon
- Lemon Juice - 1 teaspoon, fresh
- Salad Dressing
- Soy Sauce - 1/4 cup
- Sesame Oil - 2 tablespoons, toasted
- Rice Wine Vinegar - 1 tablespoon
- Black Peppercorn-Wasabi Vinaigrette - 1 tablespoon (recipe follows)
- Fresh lemon juice - 1 tablespoon
- Extra-Virgin Olive Oil - 1 tablespoon
- Lingham brand Thai chili sauce - 1 tablespoon - available in Asian markets
- Red Pepper Flakes - 1/8 teaspoon
- Garnish
- Baby Greens - 2 cups
- Enoki Mushrooms - 2 oz
- Mango - 1/4 fresh, cut into 1/4-inch julienne
- Whole fresh chive stems
- Shichimi pepper - (available in Asian markets)
- White sesame seeds
- Lingham brand Thai chili sauce
- Soy Sauce
Instructions
To cure the fish: Two days before serving, coat the fish with the sesame seeds, pressing them firmly into the flesh on all sides, and wrap the fish tightly in a double square of cheesecloth. In a small bowl, combine the sugars, salt, onion, basil, and dill. Place about half of the curing mixture on a piece of plastic wrap. Wrap the fish tightly in the plastic wrap, distributing the curing mixture on both sides, and chill for at least 4, or up to 24, hours.
Remove the plastic wrap, lightly wash off the curing mixture, and remove the fish from the cheesecloth, leaving the sesame seeds in place. Place the fish in a deep baking pan and brush the fish with olive oil. Cover and refrigerate 24 hours.
To smoke the fish: Prepare a cold smoker by placing the fish on a wire rack over a baking pan filled with ice cubes. Place this in a smoker and smoke at 75 F for 45 to 60 minutes. The fish will have a smoky taste, but will remain raw.
To make the ogo salad: In a large bowl, combine the seaweed, onion, tomato, green onion, bean sprouts, cucumber, carrot, and cilantro. In another bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Mix well and adjust the seasoning s necessary; the flavor should be pleasantly salty and spicy. Toss the seaweed mixture with this dressing and chill until ready to assemble and serve.
To make the salad dressing: In a small non-aluminum bowl, combine all of the ingredients. Place into a squeeze bottle and set aside.
To serve: Using a very sharp knife, slice the smoked fish paper-thin. In the middle of each chilled salad plate, arrange a mound of the ogo salad. On top, place a few leaves of the baby greens and add 4 to 5 slices of the fish fanned out over the top. Add some of the enoki mushrooms and some of the mango. Drizzle the salad and edge of the plate with the salad dressing. Add the remaining slices of mango and some chive stems. Sprinkle Shichimi pepper and sesame seeds over the plates. Drizzle with Lingham chili sauce, some of the remaining dressing, and soy sauce.
Note: If a commercially built smoker is not available, you may make a smoker by building a low fire in a kettle-type grill. Push the coals to one side, add a pan of soaked wood chips on the same level, and set the grill rack in place. Put the fish rack on this. Cover, leaving the smoke holes open, and smoke for about 45 minutes. Or, place soaked wood chips in the bottom of a heavy wok, then place a rack or perforated pan over the coals. Set the fish rack over this. Cover the wok with foil, punching a few holes in the foil to ventilate.
Black Peppercorn-Wasabi Vinaigrette
Makes 1 cup
In a small bowl, combine the wasabi powder with the hot water to make a thick paste. The mixture should be thick enough that it stays in the bottom of the bowl when the bowl is inverted. Set the paste aside.
Press the ginger through a fine-meshed sieve or squeeze it in your hand over a bowl to extract the juice. In a blender, combine 1 tablespoon of the ginger juice with all the remaining ingredients except the salt and blend well. Slowly add the wasabi paste until the desired taste and consistency is reached. Season with salt. Cover and refrigerate up to one week.
