Perfect tartare starts with uniform cuts. Here’s how to get clean, even cubes without turning your salmon into paste.
Step 1: Keep Everything Cold
Chill your knife for 5 minutes. A cold blade glides through raw salmon instead of smearing it. Keep the fish cold, too—firm fish is easier to cut cleanly.
Step 2: Remove Skin and Trim
Take off the skin, then trim away the dark bloodline and thin tapering edges. Those soft, uneven sections turn mushy in tartare.
Step 3: Slice With the Grain First
Cut the salmon into even ½–¾-inch planks. Don’t press down—let the knife do the work. Smooth, confident strokes keep the texture intact.
Step 4: Rotate and Dice
Stack a few planks at a time. Slice them into strips, then cut across into ⅛–¼-inch cubes. Smaller cubes = smoother texture; larger cubes = chunkier bite. Both work—just stay consistent.
Step 5: Check Your Work
Tartare should look glossy, clean, and structured. If any pieces look ragged or mashed, trim them out. Uniform cubes give you better texture and better presentation.
Why Uniform Cuts Matter
These same cuts are what you’ll use for poke or ceviche, where clean edges help marinades coat the fish evenly. And yes—good tartare technique applies to beef tartare too. Texture is everything.
Tools That Make This Easier
f you want precision without frustration, a few tools make a real difference:
Master this once, and every raw salmon recipe—tartare, poke, crudo—gets easier.
Start with the dish that shows this technique best: Salmon Tartare.
