48-hour Cured Mahi-Mahi recipe by Yang Po-Wei

We all perhaps know the perfect way to grill fish or make a refreshing ceviche, but have you ever tried curing? Summer is the perfect time to give it a try.

If you’ve been following our blog, you’ll be familiar with the launch of our first global digital cookbook Culinary Perspectives, which comprises eight delectable dishes curated by award-winning food writer and director, Joshua David Stein. We’re taking you through one recipe each week so you can master the craft. Today’s dish is 48-hour cured Mahi-Mahi by Yang Po-Wei. Give it a try.

INSPIRATION

The Kuroshio Current courses past Taitung playing host to an astonishing array of wildlife. Here mahi-mahi, a fast-growing, fast-swimming fish, preys upon the elusive flying fish. While hunting, it flashes through the wave like a shooting star under the sea while the flying fish strives to flee, bursting out of the water and into the air. This scene captures the vigorous dynamics and delicate balance of wildlife. In this dish, Chef Yang presents both sides of the food chain on one plate. Abetted by the indigenous Amis spice wampee and dried tuna, this dish, at once immediately striking, slowly reveals its layered flavours.

INGREDIENTS

Here are all the ingredients you will need to create the 48-hour cured Mahi Mahi.

DIRECTIONS

PRE-RECIPE

• Cure tuna with 45 grams of salt for 3 hours, smoke [1] for 1 day and ferment for 7 days (household refrigerator will do the job). Cold drying for 2 months (16°C, humidity 20%). The final product is around 250g of dried tuna.
• Cure flying fish with 14 grams of salt for 14 minutes. Smoke 2 days until the surface is dry. Boil in cream then season with salt. Extract the juice, then chill. Whisk until foam.

RECIPE

• Cure Mahi-Mahi with 12 grams of salt for 8 minutes. Aged for 48 hours at 5°C in the refrigerator. Slice them into rectangles and roll. Present them like flowers.
• Blend cucumber and Taiwan wampee (or replace with Tarragon) into juice. Filter and boil, season with salt. Add 2 sheets of gelatin. Chill on a plate.
• Put the cucumber jelly on the plate, garnish with Mahi-Mahi rolled into flower and flying fish foam. Shave some dried tuna on top and serve.

Smoking can be done with a household BBQ machine with a smoke box. Or you can look at
other methods on the internet, and use iron pan and tinfoil instead.

Click here to download the recipe card.

ABOUT YANG PO-WEI

Born in Taiwan, Chef Yang Po-Wei was passionate about cuisine from an early age. After working at Provence’s Le Petit Nice, Gerald Passedat’s three Michelin star restaurant and rising to chef de partie, Chef Yang returned to Taiwan in TK to open Sinasera 24. Located in Changbin, Taitung, the fine dining restaurant pairs refined technique with the local Amis culture, one of Taiwan’s sixteen indigenous tribes. (Sinasera means Earth in the Amis language.) Yang’s approach is intimately tied to the earth through a concept he calls “24 solar terms” and his menu reflects that intimacy with dishes such as “Spring Equinox” and “Grain Rain.”

PERSPECTIVE

At Sinasera 24, Chef Yang aims to recreate the majestic dynamics of Taitunga—a beautiful region on Taiwan’s southeastern coast—in the kitchen and on the plate. Relying on local producers and championing indigenous spices and ingredients, Yang draws his inspiration from the mountains, oceans that dominate this unique corner of the world. Mimicking the rhythms and micro-seasonality of Changbin Chef Yang’s menu is an ever-changing portrait of the sea and land, expressed through refined technique with painstaking detail and profound respect.

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