Lomi Salmon

Lomi Salmon, the most common way that I describe this dish to people who aren't familiar to the Hawaiian cuisine is that it is Pico de gallo (a salsa) with salmon in it. With that said I do know people who eat this dish with chips and tell me it is quite tasty. I, however, choose to eat it the traditional way... straight from the bowl. My husband would eat this dish at some point every day if he could; I think he really loves it because of its close relation to sushi.
This recipe is a base recipe, one of the many great things about Hawaiian cuisine is the ability to change the meal to your preferences. For example I am a big onion person- I love them, but my best friend and husband  are the ones who pick the extras out and give them to me :). With that said customize this dish to your palate.

• 1 pound of Salted Salmon*
• 8-10 tomatoes diced
• 1-2 onion
• 1 bundle of green onions, white and green diced
• Kosher salt

** Salted salmon is a way of curing the salmon before preparing it for this dish. In order to cure the salmon get a casserole dish and line the salmon inside, along the bottom. Sprinkle the salmon with salt (a decent amount, you can always "wash/soak" some of the salt out of the salmon), and then cover and place into the refrigerator for overnight - 3 days. (I have never cured the salmon for longer than 24 hours so if you choose this method please comment and tell me how it comes out). Make sure you flip the salmon one time, during its stay in the salt bath. I usually flip mine right before I go to bed at night. And also don't worry if you don't have a casserole dish or are running low on space in your refrigerator, just use a zip lock plastic gallon bag (make sure it is sealed tight) and lay the salmon out flat to make flipping easy. In the morning, I usually wake up and test the salmon, if the salmon is to salty I fill the bag up with ice water and let soak for 30 min-1 hour switching the water every 30 min (depending on how much salt I am trying to soak out). Also remember, you can always add a little salt to the final product if you are worried that it is too much sodium during the process. If the salmon is to your liking, then you are ready to begin with the Lomi salmon recipe:

1. Dice your salted salmon into small cubes and dump into a large mixing bowl or container.
2. Then dice your tomatoes (its OK if you have some seeds and juices), onions and green onions and place into the large mixing bowl. Now that all your ingredients are in the bowl you just need to add 6-10 ice cubes (depending on how soupy you want it) and refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving. This is definitely a dish that you want serve ice cold especially the first time. Salmon served in this fashion at room temperature could be a texture issue for some people. So, it's best served cold.
3. Remember you can't over mix this recipe, Lomi in Hawaiian means to massage and the full name of this dish is Lomi Lomi Salmon... So massage massage that salmon.

Posted in: Chow Hall, Dinner, Food, Hawaiian, Lomi Salmon