Chutoro crudo with lime and micro greens. A kaleidoscope of colors to brighten up your day. This simple, no cook seafood appetiser will surely delight your senses and wow your guests.
First, what is “crudo”. It is the Italian and Spanish word for “raw”. Often seafood or shellfish is finely sliced and then drizzled with citrus, a good quality extra virgin olive oil, and/or a vinaigrette.
Sometimes people confused crudo with ceviche. Ceviche is a popular Latin American and Caribbean dish. Typically it comes from the modern day country of Perus and is made from fresh raw fish cured in fresh citrus juices (which does the ‘light’ cooking due to the high acidity) – often lemon or lime. As the fish sits longer in the citrus acid than when it comes to making crudo, the fish becomes gently ‘cooked’ in ceviche. It is also spiced with chilli peppers, chopped onions, salt, other seasonings and commonly coriander. The name originates from the Quechuan word siwichi, which means fresh or tender fish. For a more detailed article differentiating the differences between crudo, ceviche, carpaccio and sashimi, read this.
Crudo dishes are much easier to pull off than what you might think. Yes, a few skills may be needed (mainly knife and plating skills). The most important ingredient is the quality of the fish itself, and the olive oil. It isn’t time to go cheap here; look for quality in both. Good fishes to use are grouper, snapper, sea bass, tuna and salmon. Buy the best quality extra virgin olive oil you can afford and dust with some crunchy Maldon sea salt for the added texture. I like to play with colors when it comes to assembling and plating the masterpiece. But remember – less is more. I won’t go overboard and exceed more than 4/5 ingredients. It’ll just lead to clutter.
Buy sashimi grade fish and ensure you have a sharp knife as you cut across the grain in one motion; not a see-saw action as this won’t result in a clean cut. Squeeze the citrus juice on last as you don’t want this to cook the fish, and then finish with the remaining garnishes (be it capers, shaved radish, edible flowers, habeneros, jalepeno etc.) before the final dusting of the salt.
Here I have used chutoro for the crudo. Located somewhere between otoro (the most prized fatty belly) and akami, this is also highly prized medium fatty tuna which partially melts in your mouth as you consume it. I also picked some fresh, homegrown habaneros, microgreens such as purslane and dill, as well as edible pansies from our rooftop garden at work to use as garnish. After all, freshness is key when it comes to crudo! I like to use lime with my crudo, but feel free to opt for lemon or even orange if you want.
1. It is easier to slice the fish precisely with clean cuts if you pop it into the freezer for around 10-15 minutes or so.
2. Only drizzle the citrus/lime juice last as the acid will slightly 'cook' the fish and unlike ceviche, crudo is meant to be served raw.
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes