Oh good heavens, how very sad that I haven’t gotten off my rump in the last month to write a post. Do me a solid and pick your favorite reason why:
- Golly, I’ve just been so busy with my housework. That sweater set won’t knit itself!
- Too drunk to write/monitor flames for cooking
- Battling the knights of the round table
- A pathetic combination of Hulu, Facebook, and re-“reading” books on tape
Notice how “battling world hunger” and “fighting to save the Koala” aren’t even on that fake list. I guess I’m just not that good of a person and will shortly be stripped of my citizenship and sent to Australia with the rest of the criminals and out-casts.
I hope they have Hulu there.
In a sudden surge of productivity and after succumbing to a craving for orange foods (I don’t know how you can crave a color, but I’m not one to argue with my stomach), I crafted the night’s feast: Garlic-y, Ginger-y, Pan-seared Salmon with Maple-Sesame Sweet Potatoes.
Salmon is one of my favorite foods. While I prefer it raw over a bed of sushi rice and sodium, I will take it almost any way possible: poached, baked, grilled, in a pie, on a stick, and the list goes on and on. It also comes with the added bonus of making me feel extremely virtuous, which gives me strength to walk around town with my nose in the air and my head held high, knowing that “Hey, I’m better than you. I just ate a fillet of salmon, brah.”
Lowo and I played around with this same dinner plan a few months ago, and this is my attempt to recreate it. The sauce is very tasty and could be used for veggies, chicken, or reduced and served over grilled flank steak. The below is for one serving of salmon and lots of sauce. I would definitely recommend doubling the sauce ingredients if you’re making this for 2 and are planning to eat it with rice.
Salmon
3 T rice wine vinegar
3 T soy sauce
2-in fresh ginger, peeled and grated
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 T sesame oil
3 T sake
1 6-oz salmon fillet, bones removed
1 scallion, sliced finely
oil for cooking
Potatoes
1 large yam or sweet potato
2 T maple syrup
2 T sesame oil
S & P
Preheat your oven to 400 and chop your potato into 1/2-inch, quarter-moon chunks. Toss with the oil and syrup, sprinkle with S & P, and spread evenly on a baking sheet. You don’t have to spray it with oil– the oil in the sweet potato mixture will suffice. Put in the oven for about 20-25 minutes, or until tender and edible.
Meanwhile, put the vinegar, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, sesame oil, and sake in a measuring cup and whisk together. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and add your oil (I used coconut oil, since it lends a great flavor to the dish without being overwhelming and has a very high smoke point).
When the oil is hot, at the fish skin-side down. Give it about 2 minutes, or until you can easily slide a spatula underneath. Flip, cook for about 1 minute, then lower the heat and add the sauce. Because of the sake, the sauce will boil up and get quite frothy. Don’t be alarmed, citizens! This is the tasty-making process.
Simmer the sauce for a few minutes as you poach the fish, or until the salmon is cooked through.
If you’re not used to cooking fish, telling if it’s done can be a bit nerve-wracking. There are a few ways to tell, but if you’re really worried you should just cut into it and test the pinkness. First, you poke at the fish and it feels firm and not very “giving”, then you are good. This takes a bit of practice to get the feel for it. You can also tell if the sections start to flake away from each other, like the way cookies will crinkle on the top when they’re ready to come out of the oven. The food is separating from itself and that’s a sure sign. Salmon fillets and steaks vary widely in thickness, so it’s a good idea to keep the heat moderate and not too high. While most fish cooks quickly, you don’t want to burn the outside and have a raw inner disaster because you were too eager with the flame.
Remove the fish and place over the sweet potatoes on your serving plate. Keep cooking the sauce until it has reduced a bit, to thicken it slightly. Add the scallions when it is just about done. When ready, poor over the fish and potatoes.
Nomalicious!
