Plate: Kingfish & Mango Crudo

There was a probability in uni that I might die from mercury poisoning but we a slut for raw fish

God forbid a girl likes things raw —fish.

I’ve been obsessed with fresh, raw fish since I had my first proper sushi. There was a time when I couldn’t digest that I would shove an uncooked fishy meat inside my mouth (hmm, all innuendos are not intentional). Eventually, I had good fish as I’ve grown into a proper “adult”: date nights at Nobu, crudo at Roberto’s, some at Zuma (I didn’t like this one), or the chirashi bowls in Royal Sakura and of course the institution —Manila’s OG Izakaya Kikufuji and my $50 bill full of tempura, Hamachi, and their overloaded California roll with spicy salmon and mango on top. I got so addicted to scallop aburi and nigiri so bad —it pulled me through my thesis days that it even got a shout-out and a big concern that I might die from mercury poisoning.

I believe that there are three core elements in a crudo:

1. Fish

2. Brine

3. Fruit / Veg / Herb to cut through the salt, fat, and acid

and a bit of extra: crunch factor & a really nice plate

Note: I’ve emulsified the supposed herb oil in here because I wanted to experiment with a lighter color, but below you will find the right herb oil look, which I served during the PaperCuts book club meet (shout out to the best gals)

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Servings: for 4-5, shared plate

Ingredients:

250 g kingfish, filleted — we can use sea bream, or Hamachi.
I personally prefer white fish with soy-free brines.

2 ripe mangoes

Smoked maldon sea salt (soooo not necessary, use a normal salt)

Chives / spring onion

For the brine:

• 3 small limes or 2 big ones (juiced)

• 1 orange (juiced)

• 2 tbsp fish sauce

• 1 small shallot/ red onion

• 1 tsp of gochugaru

• 1 tbsp of sesame oil

• 2 tbsp of olive oil

• 1/2 tsp of honey

Herb oil

• 1/2 cup olive oil

• half a bunch — pick the mint leaves only

• half a bunch — cilantro, remove the roots

Chili crisp

• 1 bulb of garlic, sliced thinly into chips

• 1/2 cup olive oil (or can be 1/4 olive oil, 1/4 sesame)

• 2 tbsp chili flakes

• 1 tsp msg/salt

• 1 tbsp sesame seeds

• Spices for the oil (black whole peppercorns, star anise, cinnamon bark)

Preparation:

Always do the Mise en place when making crudo. It’s better to have them all just ready to prep and serve than to overcook the fish by letting it sit for too long in the brine. This is not kinilaw, you feel? — so cut your shallots, get the tiny leaves/herbs you want to plate, cut your fish etc.

1. Shock freeze your fish — salt it and let it sit for 20 mins in the fridge until the water comes out and pat it dry. Rinse it after with running water, and then pat it dry again. I like to seal the fish with cling wrap, to make sure there are no frost or ice crystals, then I vacuum seal it. I freeze it for 24-72 hours before slicing.

   • Ask your fishmonger for a cut you need - fillet, not steak, not anything else.

   • clean your fish, remove the stringy parts, keep the rounded and solid part of the fillet before you freeze it

2. Make the brine by combining the juice of 2-3 limes, and 1 orange, gochugaru, honey, olive or sesame oil, and season with fish sauce to taste.

   I liked adding some Riken/ Perilla leaf dressing to it as it adds some bitterness and a complex kind of saltiness — but balance them all out, don’t forget to taste along the way. Battle the bitterness with sweetness, the astringency with salt.

   

3. Thinly slice shallots, or dice it finely, pick out your mint leaves and cilantro. Thinly slice your mangoes.

4. Prepare your herb oil:

   1. Blanch your herbs for 15 seconds

   2. Ice bath it right away for 5 minutes

   3. Dry the herb (make sure there’s minimal to no hydration left)

   4. Blitz it with the olive oil

   5. Use a coffee filter or something with a very fine mesh to extract the oil, discard the residue.

      

5. Prepare your chili crisp:

   1. slice your garlic into chips thinly or dice it finely

   2. place your chili flakes, chili powder, salt, and sesame seeds inside a jar (please!!!!! heat resistant, use pyrex or something)

   3. fry your garlic chips and let it dry

   4. use the same oil you fried the garlic chips in, and add whole peppercorns, cinnamon bark, clove in it. Let it heat up.

   5. Remove the spices from the oil, and while it is still hot, pour it in the jar with the chili flakes in

   6. Add the garlic chips in the jar —let it macerate overnight

6. Assemble then serve