Spicy Salmon Tartare

Ann and I are sushi fiends. I'm quite certain that we could eat sushi daily for months on end without getting tired of it. For us to get any decent sushi, we have to drive 45 minutes to an hour into Portland and environs, and besides being a long drive, it's a no-go during COVID anyway. Besides, there is little joy in take-out sushi. We enjoy sitting at the sushi bar and chatting with the sushi chef.

The temporary solution for us is to prepare our own raw fish. Fortunately, we can get amazing quality fish nearby and we do so every couple of weeks whenever we are near the seafood market. It's expensive, but nothing when compared to the tab from a foray to a sushi bar! Recently, I had a craving for spicy salmon, so we picked up a nice piece of king salmon and brought it home so I could make spicy salmon tartare.

Spicy Salmon Tartare

I like to use a contrasting color vegetable or fruit in my tartare for aesthetics as well as to stretch the very expensive fish, something such as avocado, cucumber, or in this case, small bias-cut asparagus sweated for a minute in a hot skillet. To the diced salmon and avocado, I added a bit of a spicy sauce that I concocted from equal parts soy sauce and sriracha with a little bit of sesame oil. The remainder of the sauce is on the plate as a garnish.

I think I speak for Ann when I say that I am afraid that our dinner of spicy salmon only whetted our appetite for sushi. It did next to nothing to satisfy the craving, only making the yearning worse.