Marinated fish salad from Futuna

MARINATED FISH SALAD FROM FUTUNA

This recipe is very popular in Wallis and Futuna, but also in Tahiti and generally throughout French Polynesia. It is excellent as a detoxifying dish after periods of heavy eating, such as the Christmas holidays.

Ingredients (serves 4):

300g raw tuna
3 tomatoes
4 yellow lemons
1 cucumber
3 garlic cloves
1 spring onion
1 large onion (preferably red)
1 fresh coconut (alternative: 20cl coconut milk)
Salt and pepper

Preparation

Cut the albacore tuna into cubes, then soak it in salted water and refrigerate for at least an hour. Meanwhile, dice the tomatoes and cucumber. Chop the garlic and finely slice the onion. Cut the green part of the spring onion into strips. Squeeze the 4 lemons, removing the seeds. Finely grate the coconut pulp then squeeze the grated pulp in a clean white cloth to make coconut milk. If you don't have fresh coconut, canned coconut milk (found in all supermarkets) can be used, but it tastes better with fresh coconut.

Then drain the tuna and put it in a bowl, add the juice from the lemons and mix. Leave to rest in the fridge for five minutes. The tuna will begin to blanch.

Now rinse the fish with cold running water to remove some of the lemon juice (so that the fish is not overcooked by the juice). Gently dry the pieces with kitchen paper. Put the fish in a salad bowl, add the tomato and cucumber cubes, the garlic and onion and finally the coconut milk.

Mix everything together gently and taste for salt and pepper, seasoning if necessary. Decorate with the green onion sprinkled on top (you can replace it with fresh chives). Rice or sweet potatoes go very well as a side dish

(Liana Marabini).