Salmon and Asparagus – Three Ways

Salmon is such a versatile fish. We just love salmon any time of the year, Last week I have prepared it 3 times using same base ingredients (salmon and asparagus) and same sauce (teriyaki).

Simplest way is just pan fry it in very hot pan for 1 minute, turn over and add teriyaki, cook another 30 seconds and it is done. Plain steamed rice, nuked asparagus (1 minute on high) wasabi mayo dressing and sliced plain cucumber completes the meal.

Second way is basically same except that salmon is cut into large chunks and wasabi-mayo sauce is replaced with teriyaki glaze. Served with bowl of steamed rice topped with Furikake Seasoning and cucumber.

Third way is more complicated. It is a regular stir fry where you cook sliced red onion, asparagus and snow peas. When veggies are just soft add salmon chunks and teriyaki sauce, Stir fry for a minute and serve on bed of rice with Furikake Seasoning or just toasted sesame seeds. Cucumber salad is a natural with salmon.

Even though most ingredients are same the taste is little bit different because of cooking technique.

Update of The Weekly Menu – April 10, 2011

Monday

Western Beef Stir-fry.

The rice was cooked like a regular fried rice with vegetables but the beef steak was cook in a hot frying pan till medium rare and then sliced into 1” wide strips on bias and then tossed with BBQ sauce. Since no knife is necessary in order to eat it, it makes it a good branch meal where all you need is a fork or chopsticks.

Tuesday

BBQ Chicken Wings.

Yah, I know, I had it last week and maybe week before that but hey, they are so good! Sweet and hot and sticky…heaven on the plate. As is usual for me I served it on bed of chopped Napa cabbage.

Wednesday

The Chicken Vegetable & Rice Soup.

This was a nice light lunch. It was just a previously made chicken stock with meat, carrots, celery, potatoes, garlic, tomatoes, rice and topped with Parmigiano cheese. I put a Parmigiano cheese rind in the stock and simmered it for 30 minutes and it gave the soup such a complex flavor! Since I have so much rind from the cheese I will use it in every soup base.

Thursday

Seafood-Mix Risotto.

Rice was the last staple that I didn’t use with frozen seafood mix. Week ago I saw on Food Channel tip for using frozen scallops and squids. As anybody that used them knows that they have a sort of metallic after taste that is hard to get rid off. I think it was on America’s Test Kitchen, they suggested to use lemon juice. I went one step farther: I have marinated the mix with grated zest and juice from 1 lemon. Did it work? Not a trace of any chemical preservatives. Not exactly like fresh stuff but pretty good. This trick will be in my repertoire from now on.

Friday

Risotto Cakes with Bocconcini.

Many restaurants cook risotto for a sole purpose of having it for cakes and I can understand why. When you bite into one first sensation is the super crispy Panko coating. Then you feel the cheesy and creamy rice followed by melted, stringy Mozzarella Bocconcini. Then you take a bite of crispy Napa cabbage. Wow! This is not a leftover meal, this is a meal worthy to be on a banquet menu. I did make one change since I cooked my last risotto: before forming the patty or cake, I mixed in a lot of grated Parmigiano cheese to help in binding it and hold shape. Great move! After all, I bought so much cheese at a basement price J !

Saturday

Stove-top Chicken Teriyaki.

In my opinion this version is so much juicier, tender and quicker to prepare then traditional cooking method over barbecue. Even though I have marinated for 6 hours skinless and boneless chicken thighs cut into 1 inch strips, I am not sure that it is necessary when cooked in non-stick frying pan. The chicken pieces are basically sauted in the marinade and when I turn then over after about 10 minutes I add the green onions and cook another 10 minutes, partially covered. At the end of cooking time the marinade turns into a thick sauce. Served over rice along with cucumber salad makes it a summer delight.

The Weekly Menu – April 10, 2011

Rice Terraces

Last week was fairly light as far as food is concerned. When I went over the pictures I have realized that we had rice every day. Mind you, I did use 3 different types. Arborio (short grain) for Seafood Mix Risotto and Risotto Cakes, Japanese Shirakiku (medium grain) for Stovetop Chicken Teriyaki and Thai Jasmine-scented rice (long grain) for Western Beef Stir-fry, Chicken Vegetable & Rice Soup and as a side dish for Barbecue Chicken Wings. Since every meal was so different from each other I didn’t even notice that we had rice every day!

Arborio was soft and creamy, Shirakiku soft and sticky and Thai rice had a nice bite. I guess that this is just a preview of things to come. In warmer months we eat lot of rice and light Oriental noodles like Rice noodles, Cellophane or Mung beans noodles, Japanese Soba and Sōmen among others. Many of them are served at room temperature or cold in salads. I will be posting a lot of noodle recipes.
Here are the pictures of the dishes. More detailed descriptions will follow in next few days.

Western Beef Stir-fry.

BBQ Chicken Wings.

The Chicken Vegetable & Rice Soup.

Seafood-Mix Risotto.

Risotto Cakes with Bocconcini.

Stove-top Chicken Teriyaki.



 

Teriyaki Chicken Stir Fry

This is so easy and fast to make that it will be my favorite standby on a busy days in any season. When I say fast I mean fast, provided that you have teriyaki sauce on hand.

Ingredients:

4 skinless and boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite sized pieces

4 green onions (scallions) cut into 1” pieces

4 fresh or 8 canned water chestnuts, halved and sliced

3 Tbs. Teriyaki sauce.

2 cups rice

Directions:

Marinate the chicken pieces in teriyaki sauce and keep refrigerated.

Steam the rice, fluff it up and keep warm.

When rice is ready, heat up dry wok or non-stick frying pan and when very hot drop in marinated chicken. Stir to cook on all sides for 2 minutes.

Add green onions and water chestnuts and stir fry for additional 3 minutes.

Remove to preheated plate or bowl and serve with rice.

Nice addition to this meal is simple cucumber salad consisting of 1/2 an English cucumber sliced thin and tossed in dressing made with 1 Tbs. Mirin and 1 Tbs. seasoned rice vinegar.

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.

Teriyaki Sauce

This is most versatile of all Japanese sauces. Great with fish, meat, poultry and vegetables. Make larger amount and keep in refrigerator for later use. If you reduce it by half through slow simmer it will become a teriyaki glaze.

Ingredients:

2/3 cup Mirin (Japanese sweet rice wine) or 1/3 c. honey and 1/3 c. sake

1 cup soy sauce

4 1/2 teaspoons rice vinegar

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1/3 cup white sugar

7 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

1 dash red pepper flakes

Method:

Bring Mirin or honey-sake mixture to a boil in a saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 10 minutes. Pour in soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and sugar. Season with garlic, ginger, pepper flakes, and black pepper; simmer an additional 5 minutes. Strain and store in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator.