Sally's Galley: Easy Tahitian fish dish

If a country has warm weather and a coastline you can just about guarantee they have a recipe for marinating raw fish and turning it into a delicious salad.

Pacific Islanders dress theirs in coconut cream, (Poisson Cru and Kokoda); in the Philippines they add turmeric and garlic (Kilaw); while Mexicans spice things up with tomato and chilli (Ceviche).  Luckily Australians just borrow a good idea!

Tahitian Poisson Cru is a favourite of mine. Think really fresh fish slices marinated in lime juice and finished with onion and coconut cream. The acid in the lime juice ‘cooks’ the fish (see third photo), no BBQ or oven required, making it a great snack to throw together while you’re still out fishing.

Years ago, I worked on Jerry Dunaway’s game-fishing operation, The Madam and The Hooker (yep, I know, suss name but one very cool boat), and we spent five months in French Polynesian waters chasing record blue marlin.

What a beautiful place. I remember thinking, no wonder there was a mutiny on the Bounty! Anyway, while fishing in Tahiti, I learnt that the locals always take a few limes, onions and a coconut on board, kind of a good omen for a catch. 

As soon as a fish, any fish, is caught it's filleted, then slices of freshly caught fish are soaked in seawater for around half an hour, which seasons the fish and speeds up the lime-cooking time.

The fish is then thoroughly drained and covered with lime juice. You can leave it for five minutes or hours depending how ‘cooked’ you like it.

Then it's simply dressed with coconut cream and sliced onion. But if you’re back home you might want to fancy it up a bit with chopped tomato, carrot and parsley (second photo above).

My favourite fish for marinating this way are pelagics like mackerel and tuna, but reef fish or, in fact, just about any fish works equally well.

Boating tip: Dried coconut milk sachets are readily available and easy to transport and store. When you’ve caught and marinated your fish, mix coconut powder with a little water to make a thick cream and use it to finish the salad.

There are loads more scrumptious fish salads including Mexico’s spicy Ceviche and Hawaii’s soy marinated Poke. I’m looking forward to sharing those and plenty more on-board ideas in the coming columns.

Cheers!
Sally Jenyns

*The 'Sally's Galley' column is written by Sally Jenyns, a well-travelled boater, successsful angler, on-board chef, champion crew, accomplished author, TV presenter and mother of two. You can follow Sally at Sally Jenyn's Facebook Page.