Hamachi Crudo with Yuzu Ponzu Sauce

When Hanna and I first started dating, we accidentally created a birthday tradition where we make each other a multi-course dinner on the day of our birthdays. This year, I did a three-course meal that featured an Oyster Bar inspired seafood pan roast, a Hong Kong-style mango pancake, and Hanna’s favorite dish of the night – this hamachi crudo dressed with a yuzu ponzu sauce. The hamachi crudo was visually stunning, light, tart, and the perfect way to start dinner. If you’re looking for a super easy appetizer to make to impress a special someone in your life, give this hamachi crudo a try!

What is Hamachi Crudo?

Hamachi crudo is a dish featuring raw yellowtail fish, also known as hamachi, typically served in a style that emphasizes freshness and clean flavors. The word “crudo” is Italian for “raw,” and in the culinary world, it means serving raw fish or seafood with a variety of seasonings and accompaniments.

This dish is a beautiful blend of Japanese and Italian culinary traditions. It combines the high-quality, fresh fish typical of Japanese sashimi with the simple, fresh preparations characteristic of Italian crudo. It’s a perfect example of how two different culinary worlds can come together to create something truly special.

What’s in Hamachi Crudo?

• Hamachi: This is the star of the dish. Hamachi is a yellowtail fish known for its rich, buttery texture and mild flavor.
• Seasonings: To bring out the best in the hamachi, it’s often dressed with citrus juice like lemon or lime. This version uses yuzu juice and ponzu sauce for a savory umami kick.
• Accompaniments: We’re pairing our hamachi with a light pickled herb salad made with thinly sliced shallots and cilantro.
• Garnishes: To make the dish look as good as it tastes, we’ll garnish our hamachi crudo with serrano, lemon zest, and flakey salt.

Notes:

The first time I made this dish, I used minced garlic in the yuzu ponzu sauce, and while I thoroughly enjoyed how it tasted, I didn’t love that my sauce didn’t come out super smooth and silky. The second time I made the hamachi crudo, I opted to use garlic powder instead, and to my dismay, the garlic powder didn’t entirely dissolve, giving my sauce a grainier finish.
My suggestion would be to smash whole garlic cloves and let them steep in the sauce to impart the garlic flavor without adding any additional texture.

Hamachi Crudo with Yuzu Ponzu Sauce

5.0 from 6 votes

Servings

2

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

5

minutes

Ingredients

• 5 oz 5 Sushi-Grade Yellow Tail Hamachi

• Sauce:

• 2 tbsp 2 Yuzu Juice

• 2 tbsp 2 Ponzu Sauce

• 2 tbsp 2 Filtered Water

• 1 tbsp 1 Sugar

• 1/2 tsp 1/2 Sesame Oil

• 1 1 Garlic Clove

• Salt

• Pickled Herb Salad:

• 1 Small 1 Shallot

• 1/4 cup 1/4 Rice Vinegar

• 1/2 cup 1/2 Water

• 2 tbsp 2 Sugar

• Salt and Pepper

• 1/2 1/2 bundle Cilantro

• Garnishes:

• Serrano Pepper

• Lemon Zest

• Flakey Salt

Directions

• Pickled Herb Salad:
• In a small mixing bowl, add rice vinegar, sugar, filtered water, and a pinch of salt. Stir well until sugar and salt is dissolved. Thinly slice shallots and submerge in pickling liquid for 15 minutes
• Wash cilantro, remove woodsy stems, and roughly chop. Combine cilantro and pickled shallots. Season with salt and pepper, then put aside
• Yuzu Ponzu Sauce:
• In a mixing bowl, combine yuzu juice, ponzu sauce, filtered water, sugar and salt. Smash garlic clove with knife and steep in the sauce
• Assembly:
• Thinly slice hamachi on a bias and arrange on a plate. Spoon over the dressing, and add pickled herb salad to the side. Garnish with thinly sliced Serrano, lemon zest, and flakey salt

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