The birthday season has officially been kicked off at our house. My hubby opened it with his yesterday and I will close it with mine in January.
In our family, birthday parties are loud, with lots of friends, wine and food. But this year, the birthday boy was feeling melancholic and asked for a more private celebration. No loud toasts, no ear-splitting music, no days of prep work… Just a simple meal with his clan.
I did not have to think twice about the menu! Knowing how much hubby likes Japanese food, I decided to surprise him with a home-made raw sashimi bar consisting of a few sashimi creations from The Complete Book of Sushi and various kid-friendly vegetable rolls and condiments.
I made his day :)
Happy Birthday, honey! May this year bring you a lot more sashimi and pickled ginger.
Salmon Sashimi with Blue Cheese and White Miso Puree
Adapted from The Complete Book of Sushi
Ingredients
For Sashimi
- 8 oz salmon, skin removed
- 1 teaspoon black sesame seeds
- Pinch fresh ground pepper
For Sauce
- 1 oz blue cheese (I used the very mildest blue cheese I could find at Whole Foods)
- 1 ¾ oz white miso paste
- 2 tablespoons mirin
- 1 tablespoon light Japanese soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon of sour cream
Directions
- Place fillet on board. Starting from the left of the fillet, gently chop into bite-size pieces.
- In a small bow, whisk together blue cheese, sour cream and white miso. I used my ever mighty Magic Bullet blender for that. Add mirin and light soy sauce. If you don’t have mirin on hand, mix sake and sugar (2 to 1 ratio).
- Softly mix the fish with the sauce.
- Arrange on a plate and sprinkle with pepper and sesame seeds.
Wine pairing
Subtly fruity and beautifully balanced, ONEHOPE California Brut Sparkling is sushi’s BFF and an ideal accompaniment to the bold blue cheese sashimi.
Faina, this looks and souds incretible, but i guess noone is suprized at this point :) Can you give more details on where you buy the fish and how you go about making sure it is safe to eat?
Thank you, Ilona, for all the compliments. If you want to learn more about safety and technique, get a The Complete Book of Sushi that I listed above. It goes into fine details and is a very easy read. I highly recommend it.
I bought sushi-grade fish at a local Japanese market. I’ve also purchased sushi-grade salmon a few times at Whole Foods when making salmon carpaccio.
Faina,
You are truly the culinary master! I am in awe– teach me your ways!! LOL
What a lovely birthday dinner for Gena! I’m sure he absolutely loved every bite. :)
Let’s get together one night SOON and play in the kitchen…
I am game, Dafna!
Wow I never would have thought to put blue cheese with miso in a sushi application, but it sounds good– thanks for sharing a new and inventive recipe!
Karen, it is a wild combination that really works!
What an amazing combination of flavors. Thanks for the post!
Wow, thanks for pointing me to this recipe!! I’ve never thought of having salmon sashimi with blue cheese! Your pictures look delicious. I will have to try this soon.
That fish looks wonderfully fresh! I would never having thought of combining salmon and blue cheese, but you’ve caught my eye with this recipe and I may have to give it a go.
Thanks too for stopping by my site.
Greetings from Gibraltar
Brian
these pics don’t look bad at all!
This isn’t sashimi, this is tartare. Nice shots, though.
This is my first time visiting your site. I do envy you since you seem to get a lot more comments then I do. Do you have any secret tips on how I can get more comments or do I just have to be paitent? Anyway, keep up the good work.
Wow, that was a gorgeous dinner. Your hubby is a lucky man.
Blue cheese and miso? Very interesting combo. I have to keep this in mind. Gorgeous presentation.
beautiful, what an amazing dinner.
I love Asian things! Your layout of your meal is so beautiful!
Hannah
Thanks for good stuff
You do realize that fish is not vegetarian, right? Just curious because I searched vegetarian recipes and this came up.