Wild Salmon Carpaccio with jalapeño and an avocado salsa

These days every trip to the supermarket involves new dilemmas, with ‘wellness’ coming down on us like a tone of bricks you are faced with never ending terrible predicaments .. which gluten free bread should you buy, are the chickens really free range, is this almond milk full of sugar.. but all hell lets loose when you get to the fish counter. You may as well stick your head in the sand. Although other health fads have gone way out of control – when it comes to fish this is one that we do think about. When it comes to Salmon we will always opt for wild. Although Salmon farming has vastly improved (esp the US and Canada) there are still a lot of horror stories related to over crowded breeding tanks, disease, genetically modified fish and Sea Lice – which sadly is effecting our own wild Scottish salmon. When buying the fish it should be bright and vibrant pink with clear eyes, avoid any salmon that has browned spots on its belly, or around the edge of the fillet. Don’t always assume that fresh is better than frozen. Sometimes frozen is actually better than fresh, as it will have been put on ice on the boat to preserve the freshness. There is a great app called Sea Food Watch that has in-depth recommendations on all types of farmed and wild fish. The majority of the Salmon that you will find will the Atlantic Salmon, flown in from Chile, US, or Canada and this will be farmed fish. Trying to get your hands on our own Salmon from the UK is slightly harder and you will on the whole have to take a trip to your fishmonger for this – unless you are catching it yourself!! The Website Spin Fish has all the information about fishing in the UK, and where and when to do it. In this recipe you will need to buy fresh fish, not frozen. We would recommend going to a fishmonger and asking for sushi grade fresh salmon, rather than supermarket as the fish is raw so worth getting the best quality that you can.

INGREDIENTS

    Serves 4 as a starter 

    Salmon
    400g Sushi grade wild Salmon 
    2 fresh Jalapenos, finely sliced 
    1 large red chilli, finely sliced 
    1 lime 
    Small bunch spring onions (use the purple ones for colour if you can find them)
    Small bunch chives, chopped 
    Micro coriander (normal coriander fine if you cant find)
    Good quality extra virgin olive oil 
    Sea salt and freshly ground pepper 

    Salsa
    1 avocado, peeled and stone removed 
    8 – 10 stems mint – stems removed and discarded
    25g coriander 
    ½ jar Jalepenos 
    ½ lime juice 
    1 tbsp crème fraiche 

INSTRUCTIONS

1. first make the salsa. Put all the salsa ingredients in the food processor and whiz till blended. Leave to one side (if too hot for you then add more crème fraiche or avocado) 2. With a sharp knife slice the salmon into thin strips and divide between 4 plates 3. With a teaspoon dot the salsa over the salmon – not too much as is quite spicy! 4. Sprinkle the chilli, jalapeños, spring onions, chives over the dish, then squeeze over the lime and drizzle the olive oil. Place a little pile of coriander leaves in the middle and season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately