Salmon and Potato Chips
Sour Cream and Onion, Preferably
Many Parisian bistros serve steak tartare with a pile of potato chips. It’s part of the whole “we’re tasteful and elegant and we don’t care” thing they do so well in Paris. It’s good in any setting, and very good if you eat it outside, smoking Gauloises and poring over a Sartre play, or whatever it is everyone seems to be reading over there.
This recipe draws from that. It’s a simple appetizer, but if you don’t make it with care it will end up looking clumsy, so use its preparation as a chance to practice your knife skills. Dice your salmon belly into neat little cubes, slice your chili on a mandoline, mince your chives very fine—take the time to make nice cuts. You want the final dish to appear thrown together at first glance but reveal technical skill upon closer examination.
One last note: a lot of fishmongers sell salmon offcuts—the scraps that remain after trimming salmon filets. Ask about them, as they’re usually less than half the price of whole-cut salmon and are ideal for a recipe like this one.
Salmon Tartare with Potato Chips
Serves 2 as an appetizer
Ingredients:
For the salmon:
200g raw salmon belly, cut into small, even cubes
1 tbsp Kewpie mayo (or normal mayo if you must, though I really advise you to toss the Hellmann’s and become a Kewpie household)
Dash of fish sauce (I use Squid brand)
1 tsp soy sauce
Zest of 1/2 lime
Zest of 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup chives, finely minced
1/2 a small red chili, sliced very thin (preferably on a mandoline)
For serving:
Handful potato chips (Ruffles sour cream & onion chips are superb, though if you can’t find them, as I cannot in the United Kingdom, plain chips are just fine)
Lime cheek
Directions:
Add all the salmon ingredients to a large bowl and toss until combined.
Pile dressed salmon onto a plate.
Serve with potato chips and a lime cheek.
While I have your attention, I’m pleased to announce that we’re trying something new here at Well Worn. Starting today I’ll include a video of me making each recipe I share. Bear with me—I’m still learning to shoot and edit but I think it’s worth the effort. Enjoy!
