Salmon Tataki | Blackstone Griddles

This episode might cause a touch of controversy. Maybe a touch, Andy. Do you like sushi? I love sushi. If you've got some fantastic sushi-grade salmon, citrus-crusted salmon tataki for the win. I mean, this one is like a showstopper. So buckle up, buttercup. Let's do it. Let me show you how to make it. Salmon takes almost no time, so we're gonna start with our sauce. Sauce is very, very easy. This is also super versatile if you wanna do other Asian-style dishes. It's mayo, sriracha, hoisin, and sesame oil. That's pretty much it mixed together. If you wanna go heavier on sriracha, you get spicier mayo, which is great. If you don't like the heat, skip it. But that's it. Crazy simple sauce. I'm also gonna do all of my garnish before getting to my fish. Green onions, that's it. I made it sound like there was a lot of garnish, Andy. Just green onions. Thinly sliced green onions. I want the greens and the whites. Okay, now it's time to get to the fish. Just kidding. We're getting to citrus. Fish is last because it goes so, so fast. It's last because it goes fast. Full of, quit rhyming, I mean it. Wrong show. Andy, what's happening? I don't know. Orange, lime, and lemon zest. If you've never zested before, using your microplane, don't push so hard that you get into the white or the pith. All of the beautiful aromas and the oils are found in the color of the skin, or it's found in the skin, but the color part. You don't want the white part. But I do want a decent amount of it. Speaking of oil, you can see, as we start zesting our fruit, you see the oils? That's the magic. That's the magic that we're after. Also, what does that smell like to you, Andy? Fruit loops. Fruit loops, fruity pebbles. So, it's weird. Once it hits the heat, you'll really get that aroma. Now it's time for the fish. This is the top loin of salmon, so it's just that fat part on the very top, so it's not a whole fillet. I'm gonna add a bit of salt and pepper on both sides. Now we're gonna bring it over to our gorgeous bed of fruity pebbles, of fruit loops. It smells like fruit loops. When you do this at home, you're gonna see how this elevates the aroma. It's insane. You just gotta try it. Coat every single edge here. We want this to kind of make a crust. We want it to get crispy. Remember, we mentioned the oils in here. The oils are gonna crisp up and stick to the outside of the salmon. Griddle on high heat. Scream in high heat. High, high, high. Oil and sear. This does not take long, so do not leave. We want this rare on the inside. Remember, we talked about sushi or sushi-grade salmon. We wanna preserve all of that gorgeous flavor and that gorgeous fat. So we're literally looking at maybe 30 seconds per side. Mine's a bit odd-shaped, so if you want that last side to get a little crisp, just kind of flip it, hold it up a little bit, and that's it. If you've ever cut salmon before, once we bring it to the cutting board, you'll notice it's a bit delicate. Kind of pinch the edges a little and then slice through. It's gonna fall apart just a touch because the outside is cooked, but we wanna keep it as intact as possible for presentation. But look at that crust. It's gorgeous. Let's go down with our sauce first. You can get creative and decorative if you like. Any way you wanna garnish your plate, garnish your plate. A bit of ponzu as well. If you remember how ponzu, think like a citrus soy. It's like a sauce all by itself. Then let's take that gorgeous salmon. Do as many as you like. You could serve this more like a party appetizer style or just one, like a single bite. If you're doing little single-bite appetizers, this is cool. Green onion, sesame seeds. That's it. That's all she wrote. Stunning, gorgeous. Showstopper. You gonna try this, Andy? Oh, come on now. Oh man. So delicate, so delicious. Come on now. Here we go. If refreshing had a flavor, that's it. Oh, you get the fruity pebbles on the end too. It's not sweet. I say that. I might mislead people. Get a little bit of that spicy mayo, a little bit of that ponzu. That's just so, it's one of those dishes when you eat it, it feels good. It feels nice. It feels like you took some effort to make something lovely. Nothing we did here was difficult. But taking a little bit of time for that extra technique is just makes things lovely. Lovely. Remember guys, we shot with Norman Van Aken not too long ago? This food is just so lovely. The only difference between restaurant food and cooking in your backyard is just a little bit of extra time paying attention to the techniques and stuff. There you go. That's it. That's a fun one. Let me know, all 15 of you that watch, no one ever watches my salmon videos, by the way. I do, all the time. Thank you. Appreciate you guys. Let me know in the comments what you guys would like to see in the future. Yes, to more fish. Yes, to more salmon. Cause I would certainly love to make more salmon dishes. This is Cook, Eat, Repeat. Where we like to help you become a better cook one recipe at a time. I'm your host, Chef Nathan Lippe. I'll see you guys in the next episode. So good.