Fijian-style sashimi of trevally

A dish influenced by one of my best friends, fellow chef, Louis Tikaram. Louis has a Fijian background and he once told me about one of Fiji’s national dishes, called kokoda, which incorporates coconut milk into a ceviche mix. This is my take on kokoda (pronounced kokonda), which infuses some of my Vietnamese heritage into the dish. When I asked Louis what he thought about me doing that, he said: ‘Sounds tasty.’ And that’s what the food at Ms G’s is all about: tasty.

• serves

  2

• prep

  40 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

Dressing

• 80 ml (2½ fl oz/1⁄3 cup) nuoc cham (see below)
• 55 ml (1¾ fl oz) coconut cream
• 1 tbsp ót tuóng (see below)
• juice of ½ lime

Nuoc cham

• 200 ml (7 fl oz) water
• 200 g (7 oz) sugar
• 200 ml (7 fl oz) white vinegar
• 200 ml (7 fl oz) fish sauce
• 2½ tbsp lime juice

Ót tuóng substitute

• 10 small long red chillies, coarsely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves
• 2 tbsp white vinegar

Sashimi

• 200 g (7 oz) piece of sashimi-grade trevally, skinned and boned
• 1 small long red chilli, thinly sliced
• 4 cherry tomatoes, quartered
• 70 g (2½ oz) young coconut flesh, cut into thin strips
• 50 g (1¾ oz) salted cucumber (see below)
• 15 coriander (cilantro) leaves 
• 1 red Asian shallot, thinly sliced

Salted cucumbers

• 4 Lebanese cucumbers
• 1 tbsp salt

Salted cucumber standing time 2 hours

Instructions

To make the dressing, whisk all of the ingredients together in a bowl until well combined.

Next, slice the trevally into thin strips. Transfer the fish to a bowl with the remaining ingredients. Spoon about 100 ml (3½ fl oz) of the dressing over the fish and mix well.

Don’t worry if there looks like a lot of dressing, it starts to ‘cook’ the fish as you’re eating it, which is how it’s meant to be. Serve in bowls and enjoy immediately.

To make nuoc cham

Makes about 750 ml (26 fl oz/3 cups)

 

Whisk all the ingredients together until the sugar has dissolved. Transfer to a sterilised jar and store in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.

To make ót tuóng substitute

Makes about ½ cup, depending on the size of the chillies

 

Put the ingredients into the bowl of a food processor and blend together to make a smoothish paste. The paste will keep for up to 5 days in a jar in the fridge. You can always up the quantities to make a larger batch so you have some on hand whenever you need it.

To make salted cucumbers

Makes about 750 ml (26 fl oz/3 cups)

 

Using a Japanese mandolin, slice the cucumbers into 2 mm (¹⁄₁₆ inch) rounds. Put in a bowl and add the salt. Use your hands to thoroughly massage the salt into the slices. Set aside for 2 hours. When done, the cucumber slices will look limp and a lot of water will have leached out. Wash them under cold running water for a few minutes, or until they no longer taste excessively salty. Squeeze out any excess water and lay the slices out to dry on paper towels. Store in an airtight container in the fridge – they should last up to 2 days.

Recipe and image from Mr Hong by Dan Hong (Murdoch Books) $49.99 available now.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.