Ginger Salmon Tartar — Tartare de saumon au gingembre

salmon tartar ginger

You Rock!

Most of you scored perfectly right in guessing what this dish was all about. We will have to acknowledge that it was not that difficult, c’est vrai non ? Pas de question piège, non ! (No trick question!) You guessed le saumon (salmon) et le gingembre (ginger).

But!

Pas n’importe quel saumon !

Fresh Wild Caught Alaskan Salmon, my favorite!

And,

Are you, like me, a true ginger lover?

In French, we have this saying:

Il n’y a que les idiots qui ne changent pas d’avis.
(Only idiots do not change their minds)

I used to hate ginger.

I changed my mind.

I guess I wanted to prove I was not an idiot. Eh merci, hein ?

When I was a kid, I used to hate ginger! Of course, what did I know about ginger? Let’s face it. In rural France where I grew up, the chances that ginger would show up on my mum and grandparents’ tables were scarce. My mum’s cooking was definitely French with European variants, like Italian—we did not explore English cuisine as we proud French thought that there was none to talk or write about. As to Asian or Indian cuisines, they were too far away to be heard of in a tiny French village with a mere population count of 700 inhabitants. That did not include cows and sheep, of course. You might think that we could have learned about ginger in our biology/history books at school. Probably not, but maybe we should have as my ignorance about ginger was appalling. As a matter of fact, the only form of ginger that I knew was our traditional pain d’épices that we used to eat at Christmas time. At kinder garden and primary school, we, children, used to receive gingerbread on the day of Saint Nicolas—Dec. 6 to be precise. But I hated them. So much so! Wrapped in plastic, this pain d’épices bore the shape of Saint Nicolas or le Père Noël (Santa Claus) with an image of the same shape on it, which was the only thing I liked.

Heureusement, Thank God, times have changed and my travels outside my tiny small village have opened my eyes on the true life of the beautiful fragrance found in fresh ginger. While living in New Zealand, I ate plenty of food with a strong Asian influence, which was enough to get my stubborn self hooked on ginger. Since that time, whenever I can, I use it. A lot. Ginger is an ingredient always on my shopping list. Vraiment ! I use it, again and again, in stir-fries, marinades of all kinds, cakes, cookies, and in the following recipe, my salmon tartare.

Tartare de saumon au gingembre – Ginger Salmon Tartare

Inspired by a love affair I have for lime, fish sauce (nuoc-nam), chives (from my garden) and ginger, I decided to make this simple salmon tartare that can be served as an appetizer or as an en-cas. Remember this word! Un en-cas is a French word which means a snack, in case you once get stuck in a host family in France, and are unable to communicate that you are peckish!

This tartare can be eaten on small slices of German dark rye bread, one of my favorite types of bread, as seen here:

or under the form of an appetizer as the one that follows (patience encore, I will tell you more about the ocean in which the salmon swims here):

Ginger Salmon Tartar

You need:

  • 1 pound freshly caught wild Alaskan Salmon*, skinned and boned (if you can find Alaskan variety, best flavor)
  • 2 spring onions
  • 1.5 inch fresh ginger root
  • 1 lime for juice and zest
  • 2 Tbsp soy sauce (use Gluten free soy sauce if intolerant)
  • 1 large bunch of chives
  • 1 Tbsp fish sauce
  • 1 Tbsp sesame oil
  • *The salmon needs to be extra fresh.

Steps:

  • Cut the salmon in tiny cubes.
  • Wash the lime and grate its zest thinly.
  • Squeeze the juice of 1/2 lime.
  • Peel the ginger and chop it thinly.
  • Chop the spring onions and chives thinly.
  • In a bowl, mix the ginger with the lime juice, lime zest, chopped chives and onions, soy sauce, fish sauce and sesame oil.
  • Mix with the salmon.
  • Let rest for 10 minutes in the fridge, and eat within 30 minutes.
  • Enjoy!

Le coin français
Tartare de saumon au gingembre

Ingrédients :

  • 450 g de saumon frais, Alaska, pas d’élevage si possible, sans peau ni arêtes.
  • 2 oignons nouveaux
  • 3,5 cm de racine de gingembre frais
  • 1 citron vert pour son jus et son zeste
  • 2 càs de sauce soja (sans gluten pour les intolérants)
  • 1 beau bouquet de ciboulette
  • 1 càs de sauce nuoc mam
  • 1 càs d’huile de sésame

Ėtapes :

  • Coupez le saumon en petits dés.
  • Lavez le citron vert et prélevez son zeste. Rapez-le très finement.
  • Pressez le jus du 1/2 citron vert.
  • Pelez le gingembre et hachez-le finement.
  • Hachez la ciboulette et les oignons nouveaux finement.
  • Dans un bol, mélangez le gingembre avec le zeste et le jus de citron vert, la ciboulette et les oignons hachés, la sauce de soja, la sauce nuoc mam et l’huile. Ne salez pas car la sauce nuoc mam est déjà salée.
  • Mélangez au saumon.
  • Laissez reposer au frais pendant 10 minutes mais pas au-delà de 30 minutes.
  • Dégustez !
Posted in Appetizers, Fish, Gluten Free

20 comments

  1. Béa, c’est une fois de plus magnifique, bravo !
    Je constate que nous avons eu les mêmes pains d’épices pour la St Nicolas et que depuis, nous avons appris à apprécier autrement le gingembre et comme tu dis :”Thank God” ! ;O)
    J’ai encore quelques réticences pour le tartare, qu’il soit de boeuf ou de saumon…Mais je viens de me convertir aux carpaccios, je pense donc avoir de bonnes chances de déguster prochainement ce genre de plat (surtout s’il est servi sur le fameux pain “moquette” allemand que j’affectionne particulièrement…)

  2. I was the same, I used to hate ginger when I was young, but now I love it. I think it’s definitely a more ‘grown-up’ taste. I’m glad to grew to love it though, its now one of my favourite ingredients.
    And what better fish to have ginger with than salmon…as always your photographs look beautiful!

  3. I used to hate ginger too, but now that I have eaten fresh, young ginger here in Japan, I love it! Your photos are always great!

  4. Hello! Just as I was thinking about writing in English the messages in my Blog, je m’évade sur une tartine gourmande qui mélange les deux langues 😉 J’aime vraiment beaucoup les photos, et la recette! Le gingembre c’est vrai, c’est encore une polémique… Le rose qu’on sert avec les sushis, je déteste, mais le frais, en petites quantités (par des gros morceaux purs…) c’est très bon, et en poudre, c’est un pur plaisir. Etrange…

  5. Je ne me lasse pas de tes photos, pour le poisson, faut le faire…
    En ce qui concerne le gingembre, je suis en ce moment un tout petit peu inclined à en flanquer partout. Il faut que je me reprenne …

  6. Ginger is defintely something that grew on me too.. I used to cringe when I accidently bit into a piece of ginger, but now I can chew on it all day! As always, amazing pictures Bea – I esp like your criss-cross chive garnishes!

  7. Quelle merveille Bea, c’est tout ce que j’aime. Malheureusement, mes petits n’aiment pas le gingembre non plus, et ce n’est pas faute de leur faire essayer – mais je persevere, un jour ils aimeront, c’est sur.

  8. I love ginger in all forms…fresh, powdered, candied. It’s that aroma which really gets to me, spicy and hot…almost like describing a lover! (just teasing!)

  9. I love ginger too… i use it often in my cooking. As for salmon, i prefer them smoked. Your ginger salmon tartare looks divine. Now, i wonder if the local fish monger would have a freshly caught wild Alaskan Salmon…

  10. Thanks all for your comments! I am glad to see you too like ginger!

  11. humm, je fais pratiquement le même tartare de saumon (le nuoc man en moins) et vraiment, c’est ainsi que je le préfère…magnifiques photos !

  12. Chere Bea,

    J’adore ton blog. J’y viens de temps en temps quand l’estomac reclame quelque chose de bon 🙂
    J’ai une question pratique pour toi. Je suis en train d’ecrire un article sur mon blog et je me demandais si je pouvais mettre ta photo dans mon article, en l’inserant grace a son lien.

    Voila, let me know 😉

    Thanks
    Estelle

  13. I made this last night and it came out perfect. This is the first recipe of yours I’ve tried but will try others. Thanks very much.

    Karen – Melbourne, Australia

  14. bonjour, hier soir, je cherchais une recette de tartare de saumon et j’ai essayé la vôtre. délicieuse au goût, mais j’ai une question au sujet de la présentation, par rapport à vos photos: compte tenu de la couleur et de la quantité de sauce de soja, comment faites-vous pour garder la couleur du saumon si orange? de même pour la sauce qui entoure le saumon dans l’assiette: est-ce votre marinade? la mienne était brune et de consistance liquide (j’ai suivi vos proportions) alors que la vôtre est d’un joli vert pistache et ressemble à un pesto mélangé à de la crème.
    merci d’avance de vos conseils 🙂

  15. Hello Bea…
    I love your site, I love your salmon tartare (made without the green sauce) and I’d love to know the recipe for what it “swims in”! Have you published it yet? I can’t find it
    Cheers!

  16. Thank you very much for the recipe!!! It is wonderfull! Just another little thing…add just a bit of sugar…tastes better;-)))