Sashimi grade salmon is a true treat for the tastebuds. Soft and velvety on the tongue with just a trace of oil and flesh that seems to melt in the mouth. Marinated with a tbsp of mirin and soy sauce and touched with a little wasabi, it transforms into something truly simple and delicious. Salmon is now the second most popular choice among Japanese consumers of sushi - in fact, the Japanese consume more salmon than any other country, almost all of it in the form of sashimi and sushi. That hasn't always been the case. It took some enterprising Norwegian salmon farmers in the 1970s and 80s to persuade a sceptical Japanese public that salmon sashimi was every bit as good as tuna and that a farmed fish could taste every bit as good as a wild one.
I don't think there can be many better ways to eat salmon sashimi than presented as a chirashi or poke bowl. (A chirashi and a poke bowl are really much the same things just separated by a few thousand miles of the Pacific, (chirashi having been created in Japan and poke bowls in Hawaii.) If you buy your salmon in a large chunk and forget to ask your fishmonger to fillet it, you'll need to cut it into 20 - 22 small fillets or fingers - ideally, if you have a sashimi knife, you can use it to do this job. If not, then use your sharpest kitchen knife to do this. Once, that is done, this becomes essentially a simple dish - a bed of sushi rice, topped with shredded nori and cucumber matchsticks covered with the main attraction, fillets of sashimi grade salmon. Just a little soy sauce and some wasabi and your are ready to make your diners (and hopefully yourself) very happy eaters.
If you want to give this dish a whirl, you can find the written recipe below. For the Youtube tutorial, just press Salmon sashimi Poke bowl or scroll to the bottom of the page.
(PS: If you watched the video and you're wondering about the sashimi bocho knife I used, you can find details about it in my Goods section here. It's a very good quality knife that I have used for some years and the price is quite reasonable.)
Happy eating! Kurumi XXXX.
Salmon sashimi Poke bowl.
ingredients: (make 2 portions)
180g / 6oz sushi grade salmon
1 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp soy sauce
500g cooked Japanese rice
2 tbsp sushi vinegar
1/2 nori sheet
100g / 3.5 oz cucumber
to garnish:
2 finely shredded shiso /oba leaves a little wasabi
a little soy sauce
mix the mirin and the soy sauce together
if your fishmonger hasn't already done so, use your sharpest knife to cut the salmon sashimi into 20 - 22 small fillets or fingers. when you're done, place the fillets on a plate and spoon over the soys sauce/mirin mix. make sure each piece of salmon gets a coating and then set aside for at least 30 minutes in the fridge
to make the sushi rice, mix the cooked rice and the 2 tbsp of sushi vinegar gently in a bowl, then set aside
fold the nori twice, then pull into two halves. use a pair of scissors or a knife to cut the nori into fine shreds
slice the cucumber thinly using a diagonal cut to produce long oval slices. then place the slices in a pile and cut into fine matchsticks
now you are ready to assemble:
ready 2 bowls. place a 1/2 share of the rice in each bowl. scatter the shredded nori & cucumber over the rice
now arrange the salmon pieces over the cucumber
finally garnish with shredded shiso & wasabi and drizzle over a little soy sauce
your salmon sashimi poke bowl is ready for the table