Hamachi Crudo with Tomato Water
hwoo.lee•
January 22, 2026
Inspirations: A tomato aguachile dish at Orsa & Winston back in 2019; Kato, which served tomato water, as well.
Number of times I’ve made this dish: 15
Early mistakes I made: I never understood why my tomato water tasted worse than the restaurants’. Took me too long to realize that they season their tomato water (face palm). I assumed it was all about the tomatoes, but no. Dummy.
Lessons learned: How crucial the right knife is for slicing fish; how helpful fish tweezers are; and how hard it is to make herb oils in small quantities.
Secrets unlocked: Soak radish slices in ice cold water to keep them crisp. I later learned, you can vaccuum seal radishes in cold water to crisp them even more
Practical culinary science learned: Blanching greens brings out the chlorophyll and makes ingredients look more vibrant. Tomato water oxidizes if not perfectly filtered.
Techniques improved through repetition: I used to destroy fish when slicing. I’ve gotten a lot better over the years. (Learning to sharpen and maintain your knives is crucial.) Working with fish in general is about getting comfortable. Over time you’ll learn how to remove the pin bones, remove the bloodline, and slice the hamachi by heart. It helps to keep the fish a bit frozen if it’s your first time slicing.
Ingredients (10)
Ingredients (10)
Garnishes
Tomato Water
Basil Oil 2.0
Instructions
Assuming you’ve bought a pre-portioned piece of hamachi (4 oz) loin (as opposed to harvesting a piece of hamachi off a whole fish), you’ll may need to do two things: 1) remove the skin; 2) slice off the bloodline. Using a long, sharp knife (a yanagiba), carefully slice off the skin, using your off hand to keep the fish in place with gentle pressure.
The bloodline is the deep red part of the fillet and has a metallic taste. You want to slice that off, as well.
Here’s where YouTube comes in handy. Watch videos of professionals slicing, then learn by doing. Slice thin pieces of hamachi and arrange them on a plate.
Garnish each slice of fish with a citrus suprême. Again, if you’re unsure about how to harvest suprêmes, look it up online.
Pour tomato water over the fish, then garnish with basil oil and roasted pistachios.
Tomato Water
Remove the stem from the tomatoes (1 ½ lb) and carefully cut a shallow X into the skin where you removed the stem.
Boil the tomatoes for 10 to 15 seconds, then transfer to an ice bath.
Wait a couple of minutes for the tomatoes to cool, at which point the skins should have loosened to the point where they’ll slide off easily. Peel.
Slice the tomatoes in half, remove the seeds, and blend until smooth.
Strain the tomatoes through a cheesecloth set over a strainer. This will take a while. Best to leave it overnight in the fridge to drain completely and slowly.
Season with salt to taste.
Basil Oil 2.0
Bring a saucepan of water to a boil, then blanch the basil leaves (4 cups) for 15 seconds.
Use a strainer to scoop the leaves into an ice bath and stop the cooking process.
Transfer the leaves to a blender, and add the oil (2 cups). Blend at low speed for 45 seconds, then pour the mixture into a saucepan.
Set the saucepan over medium heat and bring to a simmer.
Drop the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes.
Pour the oil into a bowl set in an ice bath. Cool, then strain through a cheesecloth set over a fine-mesh strainer.
Pour the strained oil into a clear, plastic piping bag. Tie off the top and hang the bag in the refrigerator overnight. Alternatively, let it sit up in a tall container.
What you want is for the impurities to settle at the bottom of the oil. The next day, pinch the tip of the bag to control the flow, then snip the bottom to allow the impurities to pour out.
Quickly stanch the flow of the oil, and transfer the impurity-free oil to a container.