6 Quick "Raw" Recipes to Impress Anyone
Oyster Mignonette
Take your fresh oysters and shuck them without breaking the shell. For the mignonette, mix 1 cup of rice wine vinegar, 2 chopped shallots, 1 dried chili, an inch of ginger grated, half a cucumber finely minced, 1 tbsp of honey, and cracked black pepper. Mix and dress on top of oyster before eating with lemon quarters.
Tuna Poke
Take 400 g of hand-cubed, extremely fresh, high-quality tuna loin, kept very cold. Mix it with 2 tbsp of white mirin, 1 tsp of miso, 1 tsp dry mustard powder, 2 tbsp of cold water, 2 tbsp of rice wine vinegar, 1 tsp of honey, 3 tbsps of extra virgin olive oil, 4 tbsps of chopped spring onions, 1 chopped chili, 1 tbsp of hoisin sauce, 1 tsp of soy sauce, 1 finely chopped red onion, 4 drops of sesame oil, 1 tsp of toasted sesame seeds, 4 chopped crispy seaweed sheets, and 2 chopped small ripe avocados. Season to taste.
Crudite
Sometimes all you need are vegetables. Boil any amount of balsamic vinegar you need. Once at a boil, reduce the fire and reduce by half. Add in your brown sugar (3/4 of the amount of vinegar, e.g. for 0.5 liters of vinegar, you will be needing 375 grams of sugar), stir until dissolved and bring back to a boil.
Then, chop and combine some caper berries, cherry tomatoes, singkamas (jicama), and other veggies of your choice. Dress with the caramelized balsamic vinaigrette. Be a man and eat your greens.
Avocado Salad
Trust me: I’ve just made your life better. Dress your avocados with this sesame dressing: Toast 3 tbsp of white sesame seeds, grind them in a pestle until smooth. Mix in 2 tbsps of Japanese mayonnaise, 1 tbsp of rice vinegar, 1 tbsp of mirin, 1 tbsp of soy sauce, 1 tsp of sugar, 1?2 tsp of sesame oil, cracked black pepper. Done.
Salmon Gravlax
Take about 800 g of skin-on salmon fillet. In a deep dish, mix about 3 tbsps of good quality salt, 2 tbsps of sugar, 1 tbsp of cracked black pepper and 1 big handful of chopped fresh dill. Press the salmon skin down in the mixture. Leave skin side down. Take the extra dry mix and cover the whole salmon with it. Cover with a plastic wrap. Leave it in the fridge for 4 days. Every day in between, make sure to flip the salmon. On the last day, scrape off the dry mix. Thinly slice the fish. Serve with sour cream, capers, dill and some extra virgin olive oil.
Beef Tartare
Take 400 grams of hand-cubed, extremely fresh, graded beef tenderloin. Freshly butchered meat is a must. (Not frozen. Not pre-cut. Straight from the farm, or from a butcher, straight off a fresh carcass.) Mix it with 4 tsps of chopped brined capers, 6 teaspoons of Dijon mustard, 2 chopped preserved anchovies, 4 tbsp of finely chopped red onions, 4 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley, 4 tbsps of extra virgin olive oil, 6 dashes of good hot sauce, 7 dashes of Worcestershire sauce. Salt and pepper to taste. Top with a raw yolk. Enjoy, caveman.
Produced by Kara Ortiga, art direction by Ces Olondriz
This article originally appeared in the May 2014 issue of Esquire Philippines. Minor edits have been made by the Esquiremag.ph editors.
