Last night I hosted my annual Christmas themed Greek Supper Club and for the first time, I served a salmon tartare.

Much like the OG steak tartare, this appetizer is served with raw. For food safety reasons, one must follow some rules for a safe to eat dish:

• Buy salmon from a trusted shop or fishmonger
• Freezer your salmon for at least 3 hours (kill any microbes)
• Cut partially frozen or almost thawed salmon for easier chopping
• Chop salmon an hour before serving, cover with click wrap in fridge

I buy skinless fillets for easier prep but skin on is fine and if the fillet is partially frozen, you should be able to tear off the skin.

When making a salmon tartare, one can choose Asian flavours or stay western, which I did: mustard, some mayo, red onions, cucumber, capers, citrus juice, fresh dill and chives. Oh, a squeeze of hot sauce for a kick. Want to avoid mayo? sure…add some fresh diced avocado in the mix.

My salmon tartare is a departure from the usual recipes in that I do a quick cure of salt, sugar and vodka. This “cooks” the salmon without the use of citrus acid. I add lime or lemon juice at the end before serving.

You can serve this with lavash crackers, pita chips but I like high quality potato chips. Salt and pepper flavoured or look for truffle flavoured chips…the bomb!

Be it the holidays or dinner party, your guests are going to love this Salmon Tartare. Promise!

Salmon Tartare

Recipe by Peter MinakiCourse: Appetizer

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

40

minutes

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb. fresh salmon, skinless

• 2 Tbsp. finely diced red onion

• 1/4 cup diced Persian cucumber (you can use English but remove seeds)

• 2 Tbsp. finely chopped capers

• 2 Tbsp. mayo

• 1 tsp. Dijon mustard

• 1 tsp. grainy mustard

• 1/4 tsp. lemon or lime zest

• 2 Tbsp. chopped chives + extra for garnish

• 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh dill

• splash of hot sauce

• 2 Tbsp. lime or lemon juice

• For the quick cure

• 2 Tbsp. vodka

• 1/2 tsp. sea salt

• 1 tsp. sugar

Directions

• Place your salmon in the freezer for 3-4 hours – enough to firm up.
• Place on your cutting board and cut into slices then dice. Place in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and place back in the fridge.
• Prepare the remaining tartare ingredients (cover and place in fridge if assembling later).
• When you’re ready to serve your tartare, take the your salmon out of the fridge, add the the vodka, salt and sugar and toss. Reserve for 5 minutes.
• Add the remaining ingredients and toss to combine.
• Place in a ring mould (make 1 large or 2) on a place with some chips around. Top tartare with more chives and serve.

Recipe Video