Tahiti's national dish: fresh yellowfin tuna cubed and briefly cured in lime juice, then dressed in thick coconut milk with finely diced cucumber, tomato, onion, scallions, and salt. The Tahitian everyday meal — sold at every restaurant, made in every household, eaten chilled with rice or simply with a spoon.
Poisson cru à la tahitienne is the French Polynesia signature dish, served at every meal from breakfast (with French baguette) to formal dinner. The combination of raw fish + coconut + lime + crisp vegetables represents the French-Tahitian creole synthesis — French technique (chopped vegetable garnish) meets Polynesian ingredients (raw tuna + coconut + lime). Served chilled in glass bowls or hollowed coconuts.
Spoon up poisson cru — pearly tuna in glossy white coconut sauce, dotted with red tomato cubes, green scallions, white cucumber. Bite: tuna's clean ocean sweetness, coconut milk's tropical richness, lime acidic brightness, cucumber-tomato fresh crunch, onion-scallion aromatic. The classic Pacific raw-fish dish refined with French technique (chopped vegetables, clean plating). Eat with a spoon; pair with cold rosé or beer.
Brief lime cure (5-7 min) is Tahitian preference — fish stays slightly raw in center. Coconut milk + lime + vegetable combination is a French-influenced refinement over more rustic Pacific raw-fish dishes (kokoda, 'ota ika). Vegetables (cucumber, tomato) added after curing keep their crispness.
Variations
Restaurant version garnishes with avocado slices. Festival version uses multiple fish (tuna + mahi-mahi). Lemon version uses lemon instead of lime — French preference. Vegan version uses firm tofu cubes (no curing).
On the Palate
Where Poisson Cru à la Tahitienne sits in the Tahitian flavor cloud
Time the lime cure and drain it: 5-7 minutes firms the outside of the tuna while leaving the center silky and just-raw, and draining off most of the juice before the coconut milk goes in keeps the dish creamy and clean, not sour and mushy.
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
8 steps · 20 min active + 15 min waiting
- 14 min
Acquire 600 g sashimi-grade yellowfin tuna. Pat dry. Cube 1.5 cm.
- 26 min
Combine with juice of 4 limes + 1 tsp salt. Toss; rest 5-7 min (Tahitian preference is slightly raw center).
Watch outPull the tuna at 5-7 minutes when edges whiten but centers stay translucent; press a cube, it should still feel soft, not firm.
- 31 min
Drain off most lime juice (reserve 2 tbsp).
Watch outDrain off most of the lime juice, saving just 2 tbsp, so the coconut milk isn't drowned out.
- 45 min
Add 250 ml thick coconut milk + 1 finely diced cucumber (peeled, deseeded) + 2 diced tomatoes (deseeded) + 1 finely diced red onion + 4 sliced scallions + reserved lime juice.
- 52 min
Toss gently. Adjust salt; should taste clean-bright-creamy.
Watch outTaste before chilling: clean, bright, creamy with just enough salt; adjust now, not after.
- 616 min
Chill 15 min.
- 72 min
Garnish with 2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro and optionally a sliced bird's eye chili on top.
- 81 min
Serve cold with a slice of fresh baguette, hollowed coconut halves, or over warm rice.
