Fish Kelaguen: An Island Appetizer

In an earlier post, I blogged about a Hawaiian appetizer I love – the tuna poke. Hopping to another island in the Pacific, I want to introduce another fish appetizer – the fish kelaguen, a popular Chamorro dish.I first learned about kelaguen while living on the island of Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands. Every morning along my ten minute drive to work, I would pass by a Mobil gas station and on one particular morning during my first month there, I stopped in to get gas for my SUV. On Saipan, there are still gas attendants that pump the gas for you, a new experience for this Californian. As my attendant tended to my car, I ran inside to get a drink and while paying for my Gatorade, I noticed something rolled up like an egg roll and wrapped in plastic wrap. As if on cue, my stomach growled, and the woman behind the register smiled and said, “that's fish kelaguen.”

“What is that?” I asked.

“It's good. A little spicy. Try it,” she said, “we get it made fresh every day.”

I know what you're thinking. Fish from a gas station? But I like trying foods I've never heard of before. Isn't that the spice of life?

I returned to my car, got in and upwrapped my snack. It was a rolled up tortilla and I couldn't see what was inside, so I took a bite and immediately tasted the tartness of lemon juice that had been marinating finely chopped pieces of fish. There was also a hit of chili peppers. Four more bites and it was gone. Did I like it?

Let's just say I returned to the gas station every other morning, even when I didn't need gas.

Fish Kelaguen

Ingredients

2 pounds fresh yellow-fin tuna (yellow-fin works well, but any fish you like is fine. Make sure it's fresh)

1 small onion finely chopped

juice of 8-10 lemons

3-4 hot chili peppers seeded and finely chopped

½ cup grated coconut (if you can't find fresh, packaged shredded unsweetened coconut is fine)

¼ cup pickled ginger finely chopped (this usually comes in a jar by where you would find tofu at the grocery store. It's the same kind you get at sushi restaurants)

2 green onions chopped

salt

Directions

Chop tuna into very small pieces and place in large bowl. Add peppers, ginger, and onions into bowl and mix. Add lemon juice and mix well. Add salt to taste. Let chill in refrigerator for at least one hour so flavors can marinate. Serve with tortillas or pita chips.

Optional

You can “kelaguen” any kind of meat whether it's chicken, beef, shrimp or clams. If you're using other meats that are not safe to eat raw, cook the meat first, let it cool and then combine the rest of the ingredients.