Fresh tomato salsa just got hula hooped with a simple hack for this classic Hawaiian side dish.
Paradise in a Convenient Bowl
If you dream of tropical island vacations and prefer traveling in first world countries, it does NOT get any better than the state of Hawaii.
And the food. Could there be anything better than Hawaiian food and all it’s seafood poke glory?
Walk into any grocery store, and you’re bound to see hotel pans brimming with chopped, raw seafood and a condiment called Lomi Salmon, Lomi Lomi, or Lomi Lomi Salmon that curiously looks like pico de gallo salsa.
Where’s the Salmon?
Buried within the chopped red tomatoes, onion, and green onion lie little, itty bitty cubes of salmon.
But not just any salmon.
Traditionally, this lomi salmon dish uses salted salmon. Salmon is not native to Hawaii, since the species swims on the Pacific coast of North America and is farmed in the East Coast in the Atlantic Ocean.
What is salted salmon?
Salmon was originally brought to Hawaii by Pacific Northwest traders. In order to make it last longer, Hawaiian fisherman salted it.
You can now buy salted salmon in Japanese supermarkets. You can also make salted salmon by covering a fillet of salmon with salt for 24 hours, and then rinsing the salt off.
The shortcut hack to salted salmon
If you don’t care to buy or make salted salmon, the simple hack is to use ready smoked salmon instead.
Smoked salmon can be bought as cold or hot smoked. For this recipe, the cold smoked version also known as lox and used for bagels and cream cheese would work best.
However, you could use any kind of salmon you like including canned salmon if needed!
FAQs
Lomi means “to massage” in the Hawaiian, and this classic Hawaiian side dish consists of massaging salted salmon in a mixture of fresh diced tomatoes, onion, and green onion. The massaging action breaks up the fish and distributes the salt to the vegetables.
No, salmon came to Hawaii via sailors from the Pacific Northwest in the 19th century.
It was created in Hawaii and is served as a condiment alongside kahlua pig and poi, the Polynesian purple starchy vegetable side dish.
In addition to the traditional kahlua pig for a Hawaiian plate lunch, you could serve it with tortilla chips, on top of scrambled eggs, or even on a bagel with cream cheese.
Time needed: 20 minutes
Let’s Lomi Lomi this Salmon
- Chop ingredients
I like to deseed the tomatoes but cutting them in half first and scooping out the seeds. Then chop the tomatoes, onion, green onion, and salmon (not pictured) into roughly 1/4 – 1/2″ dice.
- Massage (i.e. Mix)
Mix all the ingredients together. Check the seasoning and add more salt to taste if needed.
- Enjoy
Serve with chips or alongside your next meal. You can also make this ahead of time and store up to 3 days in the fridge.
Helpful Tips
- If you prefer to make your own salted salmon, use 1 tsp coarse sea salt per every 4 oz of raw salmon. Cover, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for 24 hours. Unwrap and rinse off excess salt.
- Serve as an accompaniment to meat dishes, bagels and cream cheese, scrambled eggs, or just with some tortilla chips.
- Deseeding the tomatoes is optional. (You really don’t have to if you don’t want to.)
Source: Much of in the information regarding lomi salmon was sourced from The Poke Cookbook by Martha Cheng.
More Easy Fish Recipes
Legit Hawaiian Poke – No Soy Sauce Necessary
The BEST Ceviche Recipe (with regular ingredients)
Hamachi Crudo (the sashimi alternative)
Lomi Salmon
Ingredients
- 1 lb tomatoes deseeded and small diced
- 1/2 ea small onion, red or white small diced
- 2 ea green onion sliced
- 1 oz smoked salmon small diced; or salted salmon – see Note
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients together.
- Serve immediately or store up to 3 days.
Notes
- If you prefer to make your own salted salmon, use 1 tsp coarse sea salt per every 4 oz of raw salmon. Cover, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for 24 hours. Unwrap and rinse off excess salt.
- Serve as an accompaniment to meat dishes, bagels and cream cheese, scrambled eggs, or just with some tortilla chips.
- Deseeding the tomatoes is optional. (You really don’t have to if you don’t want to.)
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