Salmon Tartare

Salmon Tartar

½ pound sashimi grade salmon (belly if possible)
2 tablespoons Olive oil
Lemon zest and juice (1 lemon)
Black Pepper
Capers
Sambal
Serrano chili deseeded fine dice
Chives
Salmon Roe
Shallot
Salt


The key to good tartar is the texture of the protein you are using. Too large of a dice and the mouth feel is all wrong – chunky not silky smooth. Then again using a food processor will turn the flesh gummy and sticky. Take your time when dicing the salmon use a very sharp knife and make long thin strips across the fatty grain of the flesh and then turn to make small almost bruinoise like (small ¼ inch dice).
Place diced salmon in a chilled stainless steel or glass bowl and add olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest and pepper (hold off on the salt for now). Place in fridge for 30 minutes covered with plastic wrap.

While salmon is resting in the refrigerator prepare condiments and place in a bowl:
Lightly chop 1 tablespoon capers
Dice Chili
Chop Chives
Dice Shallot (small dice)
½ teaspoon sambal
Mix all together

Remove salmon from refrigerator and add above mixture and add salt to taste. Mix in one tablespoon of the salmon row and mix gently. Use ring mold to plate and top with remaining salmon row. Serve with a small smear of crème fraiche on the plate so guests may take as little or as much as they like to mix into each bit of tartar.