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Eitan Sasson, a cooking workshop instructor, chef at the Gocha restaurants, and a graduate of our annual program, came to teach this year’s program participants a chef workshop in one of his areas of expertise: fish.

You can also follow Eitan on Instagram.

This is one of the excellent, simple recipes we enjoyed in the workshop.

Safety note: This recipe uses raw fish that is briefly salt-cured, not cooked. Use only very fresh sea fish from a trusted source, and tell them it will be served raw or lightly cured. Keep the fish cold before and after curing, prepare it close to serving time, and avoid serving it to anyone who needs to avoid raw fish.

Ingredients:

  • Fresh sea fish fillet, preferably a firm fish such as bonito, sea bass, or another very fresh sea fish, skin removed
  • Room-temperature water
  • Salt
  • Olive oil
  • 2 red onions
  • 1 grapefruit, orange, or lemon

Instructions:

  1. Prepare a 20% salt solution. Preferably weigh the salt: for 1 cup water (250 ml), use 50 g salt; for 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon water (200 ml), use 40 g salt. If you are measuring by cup and do not know the exact volume, use 2 tablespoons salt for each cup of water. The water should not be hot.
  2. Mix well until all the salt dissolves in the water.
  3. Slice the fish fillet into slices about 1/8 in (3 mm) thick.
  4. Place the fish slices in the bowl with the salt solution and make sure the fish is fully covered.
  5. After about 20 minutes, drain the fish and rinse the slices under tap water.
  6. Dry the fish well and coat it with olive oil. If you like, add seasonings to the olive oil, such as fresh hot pepper, sliced garlic, or coriander seeds.
  7. Slice the red onions as thinly as possible. A mandoline is useful here.
  8. Salt the onions generously: for 2 onions, use 1 heaping teaspoon salt.
  9. Massage the salt into the onions.
  10. Let the onions rest for about 20 minutes at room temperature, or in a warm spot to speed up the process.
  11. Squeeze the citrus juice over the onions. You can use one citrus fruit or combine grapefruit, orange, and lemon.
  12. Place the citrus onions over the cured fish slices and serve.
  13. Serve on crackers, toast, or something similar.

The onions taste even better after a night in the refrigerator.