Seared Salmon with Jalapeño Ponzu

In an unprecedented bout of productivity, I'm going to post a recipe for something I just cooked tonight, because it was so good and easy that I have to tell the world as soon as possible.  The dish was pretty straightforward - seared salmon in a jalapeno ponzu sauce - but since it was made from scratch and came together in about 15 minutes total, I was totally floored with the quality-to-effort ratio.  I've had ponzu sauce before, but not fresh from home, and I couldn't identify it while out at Japanese restaurants.  Well, now I know.  A sweeter, almost drinkable adaptation of soy sauce, made with citrus juice and one other sweetener.  If you've ever had oyster shooters from a sushi place, this is the sauce they come in.  And with only four ingredients, this is about to become a staple in my fridge, since you could basically lick it off the floor and it would still be good.  Whatever you do, don't skimp out on those four ingredients and buy the pre-made stuff, because you will be disappointed, and I don't want you coming back and blaming me.

This is the second version of the dish, without the jalapeno slices but probably even better than the first

Seared Salmon with Jalapeño Ponzu
Cooking Light, May 2010

• 1/4 cup less-sodium soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
• 2 tablespoons mirin (sweet rice wine)
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
• 4 (6-ounce) salmon fillets
• 1 large jalapeño pepper, cut crosswise into thin slices

Combine first 4 ingredients in a small bowl; mix well.  This is the ponzu sauce, and it's the best part of the whole dish.  Use fresh squeezed juices if you can.

The full ingredient list - no mysteries here, you might even just have these lying around.  Except the fish, I hope.

  

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add salmon, skin side down; cook 4 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily with a fork or until desired degree of doneness.

Sear the salmon skin side down first to cook most of the way through.  The skin can take more abuse than the flesh, and will help bring the pan back down to a moderate temperature for when you flip.

Sear for 4 minutes, then flip and cook another 4 minutes.  Don't worry if you cook the skin a bit too long, it can handle it.

Arrange 1 fillet on each of 4 plates. Top fillets evenly with jalapeño slices. Spoon about 2 tablespoons soy sauce mixture over each serving; let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Here's a weird step - after cooking, let the salmon sit with the ponzu sauce drizzled over for a good 5-10 minutes.  This lets the fish cool down a bit, and absorb the flavor of the sauce through the skin and flesh.

Salmon with Thai Rice Salad

Based on the somewhat artery-clogging food I've been eating lately (see my upcoming pot pie posting), I wanted something simple and healthy for dinner tonight.  This broiled salmon and Thai rice salad comes together quickly and has very few ingredients - fish, rice, some vegetables, and that's just about it.  Not a bad idea for a light weeknight meal, and you can't beat the freshness of the rice salad, which is more like a slaw than anything else.  The crispness of the cucumber and the pungent cilantro and green onion balanced the strength of the salmon perfectly, and the chilled vegetables and rice made me wish it was summer and I was eating outside.

The only magic here is broiling the fish.  Though not too complicated if you've done it before, you can easily ruin dinner if you do this wrong.  First of all, find your broiler.  For those of you who don't cook, this is probably the drawer at the bottom of your oven where you've been storing your baking sheets, although in some ovens (mostly electric) there is a broiler rack at the top of the oven by the element, rather than underneath by the fire.  Wherever it is, it's always somewhere that food can cook directly through intense radiant heat.  I like to broil fish skin side down first to cook it most of the way through, then flip it over to crisp the skin for the last few minutes.  Keep a close eye on it, because burnt fish is one of the worst smells to deal with in the kitchen, not to mention a senseless waste of expensive protein.

If you can, shell out for decent salmon - it needs to stand up on its own

Easy Salmon with Thai Rice Salad

• 1 1/2 cups long-grain rice
• 3 tablespoons lime juice (from about 2 limes)
• 3 tablespoons Asian fish sauce (nam pla or nuoc mam)
• 2 tablespoons cooking oil
• 3 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• Pinch cayenne
• 1 cucumber, peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded, and cut into 1/4-inch dice
• 3 carrots, grated
• 4 scallions including green tops, chopped
• 6 tablespoons chopped cilantro
• 2 pounds skinless center-cut salmon fillet, cut into 4 pieces
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper

The setup - one of my more healthy meals recently

Stir the rice into a medium pot of boiling, salted water and cook until just done, about 10 minutes. Drain. Rinse with cold water and drain thoroughly.

In a large glass or stainless-steel bowl, combine the lime juice, fish sauce, 1 tablespoon of the oil, the sugar, and cayenne. Let sit for about 5 minutes. Stir in the rice, cucumber, carrots, scallions, and cilantro.

The finished rice salad.

Heat the broiler. Oil a broiler pan or baking sheet. Coat the salmon with the remaining 1 tablespoon oil and sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Put the salmon on the pan. Broil until just barely done (the fish should still be translucent in the center), about 5 minutes for a 1-inch-thick fillet. Put the rice salad on plates and top with the salmon.

After broiling the salmon, the skin should start to get nice and crispy.  Discard it if you like before serving - it's home to many of the nutrients, but also the toxins, in the fish.