Recipe: Ahi Sashimi Salad with Crispy Wontons
Our Chinese-Ish New Year Celebration is a few different things. It's a gathering of our best friends and closest loved ones. It's a casting of intentions for the new year, and a shedding of baggage from the year past. Perhaps most of all, though...our Chinese-Ish New Year celebration is a feast!
We're always looking for new ways to fuse our favorite culinary traditions, and this deconstructed Mama's Fish House lunch favorite - Ahi Sashimi Salad with Crispy Wontons - that we discovered courtesy of the always-amazing FixFeastFlair (if you haven't subscribed to fellow Maui girl Alana Kysar's blog, you absolutely have to — it's one of my very favorites) were a tremendous hit at last year's gathering.
As party dishes go, these are among the most popular we've brought to the Bacon & Lox shared table. On top of that? They're a lot of fun to put together! Kids and adults worked side-by-side at the salad assembly line, and we served up our tasty sashimi salads in Bacon & Lox branded to-go boxes Heather decorated with her Year of the Rooster watercolor designs.
Be sure to give FixFeastFlair a read, and check out the full recipe (plus some photos of us putting it all together) below!
Ahi Tuna Salad with Crispy Wontons!
Tools You'll Need
- Skillet
- Glass measuring cup (for liquids)
- Spatula or tongs
- Paper towels
- Measuring spoons
- Small bowl
- Whisk
- Large salad bowl
- Citrus zester
- Chef's knife
- Cutting board
Crispy Wonton Strips
- 5 wonton wrappers
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- salt, to taste
- Cut each wrapper into small rectangular strips, about 1/2 cm to 1 cm wide
- In skillet, heat oil on medium-high heat. When oil is hot, drop around half of the strips in, making sure not to crowd the pan, and fry until golden brown or darker if you prefer extra crispy. Shouldn't take more than 20 seconds, so work quickly to avoid burning.
- Remove the wonton strips from pan with spatula or tons and place on a paper towel to absorb excess oil. Sprinkle with salt to taste and set aside
Roasted Sesame Seed Dressing
- 3 Tbsp. toasted sesame oil
- 2 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
- 1 tsp. soy sauce
- 1 tsp. honey
- 2 tsp. spicy brown mustard
- 3 tsp. roasted white sesame seeds
- Pepper, to taste
- Combine all ingredients, except pepper, in a small bowl and whisk together.
- Add pepper to taste and set aside.
The Salad
- 1/2 medium savoy cabbage, thinly shredded
- 1/4 medium red cabbage, thinly shredded
- 2 medium carrots, thinly shredded
- 1 small watermelon radish, halved and thinly sliced
- 4 - 8 red leaf lettuce leaves
- 3/4 pound sushi grade ahi (tuna), thinly sliced (at least 24 slices)
- 2 Tbsp. soy sauce
- 1 - 2 tsp. wasabi paste
- Goat cheese round, for grating on top
- Lemon or lime wedges, optional
Put goat cheese round in freezer.
Line salad plates with red leaf lettuce leaves, two or three on each, and set aside.
Dab a small amount of wasabi onto the top of each slice of sashimi then dip into soy sauce (in a small bowl). Set aside dipped slices.
In a large salad bowl, combine cabbages, carrots and radish slices with two to three tablespoons of dressing and toss lightly.
Mound dressed cabbage mix atop red leaf lettuce leaves and layer dipped ahi sashimi slices (wasabi side down).
Top with crispy wonton strips.
Remove goat cheese from freezer and finely grate (using citrus zester) all over salad.
Optional: Garnish with a lemon or lime wedge.
Serve and enjoy!
