Last Updated on October 26, 2022 by Sabrina Currie
If you love fresh raw salmon, you'll love this. Salmon crudo is lightly marinated in a lemon, orange and herb dressing and garnished with pickled shallots. So quick and easy, you'll have this impressive restaurant quality dish in just 15 minutes!
Frozen at sea salmon works excellent for this and makes it easy to create at any time of year. As a former salmon fisherman, I've always appreciated fresh seafood and eating it in a raw fish dish is the ultimate way to enjoy high quality salmon. (Check out my other raw salmon recipe, Salmon Carpaccio.)
I love raw and marinated seafood dishes. This was inspired by my Mexican Tuna Ceviche and makes a great part of a seafood themed evening paired with Miso Baked Oysters and Scallop And Bacon Pasta. Or make it the start of an Italian themed dinner with Scallops Vongole Style and Italian White Beans.
Salmon is so good raw, but for cooked salmon, I love Roasted Miso Glazed Salmon.
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Recipe Ingredients
Use the freshest ingredients you can to really make the flavors pop!
- Salmon - Sushi-grade salmon is what you need for this raw salmon dish. Fresh caught or fresh frozen-at-sea salmon is the best choice. Fresh salmon should smell only faintly of the salt and sea with no "fishy" smell. I love sockeye salmon for this recipe. It has a fine, buttery texture and is the most vibrantly colored salmon but other species work well too.
- Citrus - Use fresh squeezed lemon and lime for this recipe because it is the next most important ingredient after the salmon. Lemon adds vibrancy and orange tempers the acidity. Use a small grater or microplaner to grate the lemon zest before cutting and juicing. Use extra orange or lemon wedges for garnish if you like.
- Herbs - Soft chives or green onions and parsley add some flavor and texture. Chop these as finely as you can.
See recipe card for quantities.
Kitchen Tools
Using a sharp knife is essential if you want nice smooth and thin slices of salmon. I use this santoku chefs knife which has little indentations. The little indents create airspace so the slices don't stick to the knife!
I love my microplane grater for zesting citrus. It also works great for grating parmesan, garlic, ginger and chocolate too. If you don't have one, use the back of your box grater and use the smaller side to grate the citrus zest. If you have neither, you can use a small paring knife to carefully slice strips of zest off and then mince the strips to tiny pieces.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Thinly slice shallot and place in a bowl with red wine vinegar and set aside to pickle slightly while you finish the recipe.
2. Next, grate orange and lemon zest and squeeze the fresh lemon juice and orange juice.
3. Mix all the crudo dressing ingredients together and set aside.
4. Lay salmon filet on a cutting board horizontally. Using a sharp knife, trim any bruised or discolored bits off. If salmon has bones, pull them out in the same direction they are sitting in using needle nose pliers or tweezers.
5. Slice salmon off the skin, thinly across the grain. Continue slicing, laying each piece of salmon on your serving dish as you go.
6. Once the salmon is all sliced on the platter, drizzle with the crudo dressing, sprinkle with drained pickled shallots and season to taste with additional salt and black pepper if desired.
Substitutions
- Herbs - Cilantro makes an excellent substitution for the parsley. It will add a Mexican flavor and goes very well with crudo.
- Pickled Shallots - You can use pickled cocktail onions instead of shallots. Simply slice them thinly and scatter on top of dressed salmon. You can also choose to skip the pickling step and just use thin red onion slices.
Variations
Love this and want to try it again with a twist? Try one of these ideas!
- Tuna - Swap out salmon for sushi grade tuna crudo. Slice it thinly across the grain the same way you would for salmon.
- Scallops - Ditto for scallops. Thinly slice scallops through the center horizontally making them thin circles. Use a light vegetable oil instead of olive oil in the dressing then spoon over the raw scallops.
- Japanese Salmon Crudo - Use soy sauce or ponzu sauce in place of the orange zest and juice and add 3-5 drops of sesame oil to the dressing. Finish with a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds instead of the shallots.
Storage
Salmon crudo is best eaten fresh. Leftovers can be covered in an airtight container or with plastic wrap and stored in the refrigerator and are best eaten within 1 day.
The pickled shallots can be made up to 5 days in advance and the rest of the recipe can be made a few hours ahead and kept cold. When ready to serve, bring out of fridge and let come to cool room temperature (about 10 minutes) before serving.
This does not freeze well.
FAQs and Expert Tips
Yes, crudo means raw in Italian and Spanish. Crudo is a traditional Italian dish that is usually made of raw fish or other seafood but can also be made with raw beef or thinly sliced vegetables.
Different species of salmon are different shades. Ranging from the almost red sockeye to the pale pink of a pink salmon. Some, like the king salmon (aka chinook or spring salmon) can be deeper or lighter in color including even white!
Related Recipes
Here on the West Coast, we love our seafood and I have lots of fish recipes to share. Here are some of my favorites:
To make the salmon easier to slice, pop it in the freezer for 10 or 15 minutes before cutting. If you are thawing salmon from frozen, slice it when it's only half thawed and keep slices covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated until serving.
If you have any questions or comments, you can find me on Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook. I try to answer any recipe related questions quickly as I know you might be in the middle of making it.
Also check out my FREE PRINTABLE meal planner to make menu planning and grocery shopping a breeze and my shopping guide. And if you like this recipe, I would love it if you give it a star rating in the recipe card.
Cheers and happy cooking, Friends! Sabrina
Have a delicious day!
Sabrina
📖 Recipe
Salmon Crudo
Ingredients
- 250 g Sushi grade salmon filet (½ lb) I like to use sockeye salmon
- 1 Shallot
- 2 tablespoon Red wine vinegar
Crudo Dressing
- 1 teaspoon Each: Lemon and orange zest
- 3 tablespoon Lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon Orange juice
- ½ c Each, parsley and chives finely chopped
- 2 teaspoon Sugar
- ½ teaspoon Salt or to taste
- 1 tablespoon Olive oil
- Black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Thinly slice shallot and place in a bowl with red wine vinegar and set aside to pickle slightly while you finish the recipe.
- Next, mix all the crudo dressing ingredients together and set aside.
- Lay salmon filet on a cutting board horizontally. Using a sharp knife, slice salmon off the skin, thinly across the grain. Continue slicing, laying each piece on your serving dish as you go.
- Once the salmon is all sliced on the platter, drizzle with the crudo dressing, sprinkle with drained pickled shallots and season to taste with additional salt and pepper if desired.
Wes Erikson says
That looks really good!!
Sabrina Currie says
Thanks Wes! No one knows how good fresh seafood is more than you!
nancy says
Love this refreshing salmon recipe
Sabrina Currie says
Thanks Nancy, nothing beats fresh salmon does it?!