This is definitely going to scare you. The fish is cooked here by the ‘tiger’s milk’ which is a citrus mixture drizzled on the raw fish (it ‘cooks’ or cures the fish due to its acid content). Its utterly delicious and simple so its time to grow up and get on with it. The dish is Peruvian in origin, this version comes from Martin Morales whose restaurant and book Cerviche are both great. This recipe has definite Japanese influences – settlers from Japan sailed to Peru and their cuisines started to mix into a new cuisine call Nikkei. This dish, he says is inspired by that tradition. Serves 4.

Ingredients:

Nikkei Tigers Milk

• Ginger (5mm piece, cut in half)
• Garlic clove (1 small, cut in half)
• Limes (juice of 4)
• Mirin (1 tsp)
• Orange juice (1 tsp)
• Sesame oil (1/4 tsp)
• Soy sauce (1/2 Tbsp)

Make this first. Put the garlic and ginger in the lime juice and leave to infuse for 5 mins. Sieve into another container, add all the other items and mix well.

Salmon Tiradito

• 200g Salmon (best you can get, wild maybe)
• 1 spring onion
• 1/2 red onion (finely chopped)
• 1 tomato (de-seeded, finely chopped)
• 1 Tbsp coriander leaves (finely chopped)
• Vermicelli rice noodles (small handful)

Method:

1. Begin with the garnishes so you are ready, fill a pot about half way up with vegetable oil and heat till its screaming hot. To test throw in one rice noodle, you want them to puff up excitingly in about 10 seconds. If it sinks and does nothing the oil is not hot enough. When it gets there, dump in the noodles and watch them fizz and puff up (10 sec) fish them out with slotted spoon and dry out on kitchen paper.
2. Cut the spring onions diagonally and thinly, set aside.
3. Once you have chopped the onion, tomato and coriander mix together and set aside.
4. Lie the salmon filet skin side down. Cut into the fish in the middle and slide the knife along the inside of the skin to separate the fish from the skin. Then repeat for the other side of the fish.
5. Cut the fish into thin slices against the grain, you should end up bits that look similar to slices of smoked salmon.
6. Arrange on plates and pour the tigers milk evenly over the top. Sprinkle on some fine sea salt and the other garnishes topping each plate with a little pile of puffy noodles.
7. You are converted.