I discovered new style sashimi when we were eating out at Ichi-e in Amsterdam before going to the movies. New Style Sashimi has all the elements I am looking for in a great dish: fresh products, notes of sour, heat and salt and it is visually stunning.

New Style Sashimi is so subtle and delicious, I could just eat it everyday. I surfed the internet for the recipe to be able to recreate this at home. I discovered that new style sashimi is a creation of chef Nobu Matsuhisa. It is served in his renowed Japanese fusion restaurant(s) across the world and other restaurants and chefs have stolen this hit recipe with pride…and now, so have I 🙂

The recipe was developed by coincidence, when a customer at Nobu send back his plate because he did not eat raw fish. Nobu had some piping hot oil and poured it over the fish, searing it from the outside while it stayed succulent and juicy on the inside. Yummie!

We now serve this regularly during dinner parties and it has always been a hit. The plate of sashimi is empty after a few minutes. The wonderful thing is also that this recipe is super easy to make, but the presentation is impressive. Here’s what you need for this easy starter:

Ingredients (4p)

• 300 gram fresh sashimi grade salmon, skin removed. I buy the loin as it is the thickest part. As per EU guidelines, raw fish needs to be frozen for at least 24 hours at -20 C to kill off any parasites. As I am serving this to guests today, I froze my fish. Be sure to thaw in the fridge a few hours before making this though.
• Ginger cut julienne
• Chives (4 sprigs) cut in the same length as your ginger
• 1 clove of garlic, halved
• 2 or 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 or 3 tbsp yuzu juice (this is a citrus fruit, more fragrant than a lime or lemon) available at Asian supermarkets, Hanos or even Simonis in The Hague)
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tbsp sesame oil

Method

Once the salmon is thawed enough, cut it into thin slices of about 3 to 4 mm. I always keep my salmon slightly frozen while slicing, because it is easier to cut while still partially frozen (similar to carpaccio). I always remove the grey fatty parts as well, because I find they have a very pungent flavor and I I do not want a strong fishy flavor. Normally we only had some chef’s knives and pairing knives in the kitchen. Using these to remove the skin and fatty parts proved to be quite difficult and more often than not, I cut away too much flesh. We visited our favorite cooking store, Dudok, to get some advice on which knife to use and bought a Wusthof fillet knife. It is magic! The knife is thin and flexible, allowing you to maneuver easily and only cut away the parts that you want to. It cut through the salmon like butter!

You can already put the salmon on a serving plate like this (my plate was actually too small so I made a little salmon rose in the middle):

Now half the garlic and rub each slice of salmon with the garlic. Then put a chive sprig and ginger on every slice (I use cooking tweezers, which we bought at hanos), like this:

You can keep this in the fridge if you are not ready to serve, but do remove 30 minutes before serving because it is tastier when not served to cold.

Combine the soy with the yuzu and drizzle over the dish.

The last step is the show element: heat a pan on high heat and add the olive oil and sesame oil. When smoking, pour it over the salmon. I always perform the last step at the table, because it is fun and your guests can hear the salmon sizzle.

Unfortunately I don’t have a picture of the end result, because we started eating and it was gone before I could make a picture! I am sure you will enjoy this!