Chinook Salmon
By Cat, Jan, 2008 (Photo, right, from Wikimedia Commons)
Salmon is my all-time favorite fish. We used to have wild land-locked Kokanee salmon in our beautiful Flathead Lake, so I grew up eating and loving them. Sadly, they are gone from the lake now.
Use only wild-caught salmon, as always. My favorite is from the Bristol Bay fishery in Alaska, but Copper River is good also, if overpriced.
Chinese 5-Spice powder is a spice mix; you can usually find it in the bulk department of natural food stores, or make your own (see Curries & Blends for my recipe).
See also: 1. Fish and Seafood Menu; 2. Asian Menu; 3. Herbs & Spices: Chinese Five Spice Blend
Five-Spice Glazed Roast Salmon with Sesame Green Beans
This recipe is adapted from Fine Cooking (1), originally by Ivy Manning. The original recipe serves 4, but I’ve modified for 2. I don’t really like to use soy sauce, but keep a small bottle of Organic Tamari sauce on hand as a substitute. Braggs Aminos can also be used.
The original recipe cooks the fish in a broiler, but you could also use a grill, or roast it in the oven.
Ingredients & Equipment:
Cat’s note based on testing: you may wish to make more of the glaze; I made it as written for 12 oz salmon, but I used only one 6 oz salmon fillet.
- 1 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds
- one 12-oz salmon fillet (or two 6-oz), cleaned
- Glaze:
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 2 tsp Organic Tamari sauce
- ¾ tsp five-spice powder
- 1 large clove garlic, minced
- about 2 tsp olive oil, divided
- Green Beans:
- 8 oz young green beans, trimmed
- ½ tsp Asian sesame oil
- Serving:
- unrefined sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- ½ tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Equipment:
- small cast iron skillet
- small bowl
- medium bowl
- platter
- broiler pan or rimmed baking sheet
- foil (optional)
Method
- Toast sesame seeds: Use a dry, heavy-bottomed skillet on top of the stove, shaking pan until seeds are lightly browned and fragrant. Set aside.
- Place salmon fillet(s) on platter skin side down.
- Position broiler rack 6 inches from heat source, then heat on high. If desired, line rimmed baking sheet with foil and brush with olive oil; or use unlined baking sheet and brush with oil.
- Glaze: whisk honey, soy sauce, five-spice and minced garlic. Pour mixture over flesh of fish, then flip fillet(s) over, skin side tup to marinate for 15 minutes at room temperature.
- Green Beans: Toss beans with 1 tsp olive oil and sesame oil in medium bowl.
- Broil: Arrange beans on one half of the baking sheet; season with salt and pepper. Arrange salmon, skin side down, on other half of baking sheet and brush with marinade from the plate.
- Broil for 3 minutes. Remove pan from oven, toss beans with tongs and reposition salmon as needed to cook evenly. Broil until salmon is just cooked through (slightly rare) and the beans are crisp-tender, 2 – 3 minutes.
- Serve: Toss beans with sesame seeds and lemon juice. Arrange fish on platter with beans and serve.
Serving Suggestions
- Serve with steamed brown Basmati or Jasmine rice or steamed white rice and a green salad with kale.
Testing:
9/22/11: I made this with an 8-oz Wild king salmon filet, about 2” thick in the middle. I didn’t adjust the amount of glaze for the smaller fillet. It needed more cooking time, about 8 minutes total. It didn’t seem like there was too much glaze and the flavor was great. The beans were an excellent accompaniment, along with steamed brown rice, pickled beets and a green salad.
