Crispy Skin Salmon with Asparagus

Anybody that follows my blog knows by now that we love salmon prepared in any which way. After all, this is 19^th post featuring salmon! As is the case with many salmon dishes the prep takes a lot longer than actual cooking. I always cook my rice an automatic rice cooker so I usually start with washing the rice. By the time the rice is done, about 25 minutes, the meal is ready to be plated.

Start by preparing the sauces. In this version I served wasabi-mayonnaise sauce made by mixing 2 tsp. of wasabi paste with 3 Tbs. of mayonnaise. Second sauce is simplified teriyaki sauce: 2 Tbs. Kikkoman soy sauce, 2 Tbs. sake and 2 Tbs. dark honey (I prefer buckwheat honey) or maple syrup. Mix until well combined.

Besides rice, the other sides are:
1)    Seedless cucumber slices cut in half and pickled in mix of 1 tsp. of rice vinegar and 1 Tbs. of dark honey. Let marinate in bowl and then drain in colander just before serving on same plate as salmon and asparagus.
2)    Asparagus cooked in microwave for 1 minute on high, tossed with butter and then sprinkled with coarse sea salt and freshly ground white pepper.

Since I serve the salmon with crispy skin (the best part of whole dish) the skin must be completely free of scales, and I mean not a single scale regardless how small it is. Scaling the fillet is by far the most tedious job that takes most of the prep time. But, once done it takes just 4 – 5 minutes to cook the salmon.

Start by heating non-stick frying pan on high with 1 tsp. of peanut oil and 1 tsp. of sesame oil. When light smoke forms above the pan carefully place the fillets skin side down. Cook on high until you see about 1/4 of the fillet above skin turning from pink to creamy color. Lower heat to medium high and turn fillet on flesh side down. Continue cooking till about 1/4” of the flesh in middle is still pink. Add the “teriyaki” sauce and reduce for 30 seconds. Remove the salmon immediately to preheated plate skin side up, pour wasabi-mayo sauce next to fillet followed by reduced teriyaki sauce. Place the asparagus and drained cucumber salad on plate and serve. The skin comes off in one straight and crispy piece. What a treat!

Veggie Garden Update July 26, 2011

Cucumbers

This is my first year growing my own cucumbers and to say that I am surprised how fast they grow from flower to mature fruit is understatement. Because of space restrictions in our garden I have decided to grow them (3 plants) in large container on a trellis.  I also grow peppers (2 kinds), eggplants and tomatoes in containers and all are doing very well. Cukes, however, are huge surprise. I knew that my tomatoes will be super-productive but I didn’t expect cucumbers to be the same. City slicker’s ignorance, I guess J.

Here are pictures taken of same cuke taken over span of 4 days. It doubled in volume every day. Another plant that will be grown next year.

And, of course, with so many cucumbers harvested daily I had to start pickling them. After wading through dozens of recipes on Internet I have decided to use Ferdzy’s recipe for “Dill Pickles by the Jar”  published on her blog Seasonal Ontario Food. Now I have to wait 6 weeks to taste the results. What was interesting how fast the cucumber skin turned khaki green from bright green once I poured hot pickling brine in the jars.

Eggplants

The eggplant seeds I bought were for eggplant Gretel (there is also Hansel J) that is white and elongated. Even though I did pick few I haven’t cooked them yet. I did taste them raw and there are no seeds to speak of and not a trace of bitterness, exactly what I am looking for in eggplants.

I did have one nasty surprise, though: Green part at top of fruit has thorns like cactus but almost invisible and when I touched it, it was almost like an electric shock. Next time I harvest with leather gloves. I’ll cook some with garlic and olive oil and use it as one of the toppings for grilled pizza I will make tonight.

Nasty thorns.

Chinese Yard Long Beans

Yup, they are almost a yard long now and growing like crazy. What a great bean this is! The beans are about the size of pencil and no string, no tough parts, just a nice sweet bean that I eat raw when I pick them.  They are best when briefly stir fried with ginger, garlic and chilies. Also, they are very productive and I will harvest right to the first frost. I did last year

Tomatoes

Margherita, which is a paste San Marzano type tomato is finely getting mature and red and I will pick first batch tomorrow. When I bought the seeds I didn’t realize that this hybrid is determinate, meaning that all tomatoes mature at same time. However, as you can see on picture some are ready to harvest and others are completely green. What gives? Is there something between determinate and indeterminate tomatoes? I must have missed something. Oh, well, I’ll be freezing them, I guess and make sauce later as needed.

Mountain Magic tomatoes are doing just fine.

.Peppers

I have three kinds of peppers this year: Green to Red, Sweet Pimento and Red Cubana type peppers whose seeds I collected from Mexican peppers sold in big box store. The flesh was so red and thick that I just had to have the seeds. I grew them last year and they were very good. Not as sweet as original but still very good. Conditions for growing peppers in Mexico and Ontario, Canada are a wee bit different, I think J.

The Green-to-Red were first peppers I harvested about  3 weeks ago and yes, they were red already! Amazing!

Sweet Pimento is just few days from first harvest so no idea about the taste and how thick the flesh is.

Mexican Peppers

Turban Squash

I almost forgot about Turban squash because it is not one of my food crops but Marjo’s pet project that I take care of. It stopped dropping flowers and undeveloped fruits and now I can see decent size squash and a tiny brother/sister. I have noticed that lots of ants were inside some fully opened flowers and that later same flower got sort of choked at stem and then dropped of cleanly like somebody tied a rope around it. Since this was a tobacco field, ants are everywhere in garden! This will be one interesting experiment that Marjo started back in March. We will see when fall comes.

Besides radishes, Daikon and herbs that’s about all I grow this year. Garlic report will be posted next.

Sunomono

Sunomono is Japanese cold noodle salad made with somen (buckwheat) noodles, served with rice vinegar dressing and topped with cooked cold shrimp, crab meat, daikon, shiitake mushrooms and cucumber. Very much a summer favorite.

3 bundles of Somen Noodles

Cook somen:
Bring 2 1/2 quarts water to a rolling boil in a 4-quart saucepan over moderately high heat. Add noodles and 1 cup more water. When water returns to a boil, add 1 cup cold water and bring back to a boil. Simmer noodles until just tender and slightly translucent, about 2 minutes. Test noodles for doneness by dipping 1 strand in cold water and sampling. If noodles are not tender, add 1 cup more water and return water to a boil. Drain noodles in a colander and rinse well under cold water. Return to saucepan filled with very cold water and rub noodles till all starch is removed. Drain again and keep noodles cold.

Dipping Sauce:

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1/4 cup Mirin (or 2 Tbs. honey dissolved in 2 Tbs. sake)

1/4 cup Kikkoman soy sauce

1/4 cup water

Mix all ingredients and adjust to your taste. Sauce should taste sweet and sour.

Toppings:

Sliced cucumber

Sliced daikon radish

Cooked shrimps

Crab meat or imitation crab meat (processed Pollock)

Sliced Shiitake mushrooms braised in teriyaki sauce

To serve:

Place somen in chilled bowls, drizzle with 1/4 cup of dipping sauce and top with seafood and vegetables of your choice. For little bit of kick I add 1 tsp. of wasabi paste to my dipping sauce.

Sushi Roll

When I bought whole side of salmon I saved tail end for sushi roll and sashimi. I do not use ton of ingredients that you will see in California roll. For us it is just sushi rice, nori (sushi seaweed), cucumber or avocado, salmon, wasabi paste and sesame seeds. There is a website dedicated to sushi making called Sushi Encyclopedia that has very detailed instructions so there is no point for me to go into a great detail.

Here is how I did it.

Clockwise from top left: rice, salmon, sesame seeds, cucumber, wasabi and nori.

Sesame seeds are sprinkled on rice, then salmon a cucumber goes on top and wasabi paste on top of salmon. Ready to roll.

Roll is ready to be cut first in half, then clean cut the ends and finally put 2 halves together and make 3 equal slices. You have 6 slices ready to be served with soy sauce and pickled ginger.



Pan Seared Fillet of Salmon

With rice, cucumber pickled in seasoned rice vinegar, ginger-teriyaki and wasabi-mayonnaise sauce. That is pretty much whole recipe.

Cucumber:

Slice cucumber and marinate in 1 part rice vinegar and 1 part honey mixture. Sprinkle with white pepper and toss to coat all slices.

Wasabi and Mayonnaise sauce:

Mix 1 tsp. wasabi powder with 1 tsp. water to make paste. Add 2 Tbs. of mayonnaise and mix until smooth. It should have a consistency of pancake batter.

Teriyaki sauce (another post)

Salmon:

Marinate salmon in teriyaki sauce for at least half an hour but no more then 1 hour.

In a non-stick frying pan heat up 1 tsp. of peanut or grape seed oil and few drops of sesame oil on medium high heat. Remove salmon from marinade and wipe dry. Reserve the marinade. Place boneless and skinless salmon file belly side down into frying pan and sear till light golden brown color develops, about 3 minutes. Turn over to skin side and cook for another minute or so. When most of pink on side of fillet changes color, remove to preheated plate, cover with aluminum foil and keep warm.

Wipe off remaining oil and put in chopped ginger and remaining marinade. Cook on medium heat till sauce thickens a bit. Keep warm.

Assembly:

On preheated plate place steamed rice, salmon and drained cucumber slices. Drizzle reserved teriyaki sauce on one side if fillet and wasabi-mayo sauce on other side. Garnish with coriander (cilantro) leaves .

Note: In summer I serve this dish at near room temperature with cooked and cooled rice vermicelli instead of rice.