Halibut Crudo
Thomas J. Story
Californian or Pacific halibut is a special species. While East Coast and Alaskan halibut are great cooked, they are terrible as sashimi, but this variety is a wonder when fresh and sliced. Ask your fishmonger for halibut from the Channel Islands, or try the fish markets in Ventura, Santa Barbara, or elsewhere up the coast. Ask them to loin the halibut and give you the bones from the same fish, or do it yourself with a sharp knife. White soy sauce has all the flavor of soy sauce without the dark color and is available in specialty food stores and online. You can also use shirodashi, which is white soy combined with dashi.
This recipe, and others like it, can be found in the article “These Easy, Sustainable Seafood Recipes Will Transport You to the Beach.”
How to Make It
1
Place halibut bones in a medium saucepan and add just enough water to cover. Simmer on low heat 20–25 minutes.
2
Rinse the kombu and set in a large pot or heat-resistant container. Place a strainer or sieve over the top of the container. Once the fishbone stock is ready, pour it over the strainer directly onto the kombu. Cover with a lid or plastic wrap and let steep 15 minutes. Strain the resulting dashi through a fine strainer or cheesecloth into a large bowl. Cool the dashi and season with a combination of white soy sauce and kosher salt until it tastes good to you.
3
Using a very sharp knife, preferably a slicing knife, make long slices perpendicular to the grain of the muscles in the fish. The lines that you see are the direction of the grain—you are slicing across them, not with them. Make long, careful strokes using the whole length of the blade, by pulling back with your elbow and letting the knife do the work; do not push down with the knife or “chop” the fish. Slices should be as thin as you can get, about 2 millimeters for a firm-fleshed fish. Depending on the size of the loin, you are looking for 6 to 9 slices or 3 ounces.
4
Lay the slices of fish on a rimmed plate. Pinch a few flakes of Maldon salt from high over the fish, then top with the seasoned dashi. Splash a healthy glug of arbequina olive oil, and top with the toasted white sesame and sliced green onion. Gently shake the plate to lightly mix the dashi and oil, and serve with warm bread.
Ingredients
1 small Pacific halibut or other lean, white sushi-grade fish, boned, skinned, and cut into loins, bones reserved
2 sheets dried kombu or local seaweed
1 tsp white soy or shirodashi
1 pinch kosher salt
1 pinch Maldon salt
1 tbsp Omed brand olive oil or good quality arbequina olive oil
1 pinch toasted white sesame seeds
¼ cup green onions, thinly sliced crosswise, then shocked in ice water
Directions
1
Place halibut bones in a medium saucepan and add just enough water to cover. Simmer on low heat 20–25 minutes.
2
Rinse the kombu and set in a large pot or heat-resistant container. Place a strainer or sieve over the top of the container. Once the fishbone stock is ready, pour it over the strainer directly onto the kombu. Cover with a lid or plastic wrap and let steep 15 minutes. Strain the resulting dashi through a fine strainer or cheesecloth into a large bowl. Cool the dashi and season with a combination of white soy sauce and kosher salt until it tastes good to you.
3
Using a very sharp knife, preferably a slicing knife, make long slices perpendicular to the grain of the muscles in the fish. The lines that you see are the direction of the grain—you are slicing across them, not with them. Make long, careful strokes using the whole length of the blade, by pulling back with your elbow and letting the knife do the work; do not push down with the knife or “chop” the fish. Slices should be as thin as you can get, about 2 millimeters for a firm-fleshed fish. Depending on the size of the loin, you are looking for 6 to 9 slices or 3 ounces.
4
Lay the slices of fish on a rimmed plate. Pinch a few flakes of Maldon salt from high over the fish, then top with the seasoned dashi. Splash a healthy glug of arbequina olive oil, and top with the toasted white sesame and sliced green onion. Gently shake the plate to lightly mix the dashi and oil, and serve with warm bread.
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