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My second Oscars party dish is inspired by the movie “Life of Pi”. The movie is about a boy deserted on a lifeboat with a tiger for 227 days. The movie is actually much more than that; it is about faith, finding the balance between religion and science, and a look into how the human mind processes tragedy. But in the end, whether it is philosophical or physical, it is about survival. When the supplies on the boat are depleted, the main character Pi has to rely on fish to feed himself. He literally has to catch, and kill a live fish and then eat it raw. While those scenes don’t look very appetizing, I knew that I could make raw fish taste really good. The main star of this dish is the yellowtail; it is so buttery and fresh that it really doesn’t need much else to make it flavorful. If you can’t find yellowtail, go for some tuna or mahi-mahi and make sure it’s really good quality since you will not be cooking it (ask for sashimi-grade). Since the character of the movie is Indian, I also wanted to add some Indian cuisine influences such as mango, pomegranate seeds, and the white pepper. Ponzu sauce is made from the Japanese citrus fruit yuzu, and it is fantastic with seafood. You can substitute some lemon juice if you can’t find it, but it’s not hard to find and it really is worth the purchase.
