Another "blast from the past," this recipe is from the January 1994 edition of Bon Appétit. I will say right off that I would not make the vegetables again. The salmon was delicious, but the vegetables tasted like an American's idea of what Asian vegetables should taste like. I would either skip the vegetables and go with a nice green salad, or use the veggies of your choice.
This was VERY SIMPLE and EASY. With prep, it took me just a little over half an hour to go from a bunch of raw ingredients to a fully-prepared meal. The only thing you want to be careful about is not over-cooking the salmon, and since you are pulling it out every two minutes to re-glaze it, that is something that is easy to monitor. I bought my salmon as one solid piece, so it took a little over 8 minutes, but at 8, I flaked it back a bit and took a peek to see how it was coming. If you are cooking for guests, you can hide that peek with a little glaze. :)
Here (basically) is the recipe.
Glaze for salmon:
1 c. sake
3/4 c. soy sauce
1/4 c. sugar
5 quarter-sized slices fresh ginger (use FRESH ginger, not that crap in a jar!!)
2 lemon grass stalks, sliced
Vegetable "medley":
2 T. vegetable oil
4 quarter-sized slices fresh ginger, peeled and minced
2 lbs bok choy, cut into 3/4-inch thick slices, white and green parts separated
15 oz. baby corn, drained and halved lengthwise
salt (to season)
1/2 c. thinly sliced fresh basil
6 six ounce salmon fillets (If you can afford it, get wild-caught. You won't regret it.)
Combine glaze ingredients in a heavy small saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Simmer approximately 10 minutes. Strain. Discard solids.
Preheat broiler. Arrange salmon, skin side down, on the broiler pan. Brush salmon generously with glaze, reserving approximately 3 T. of glaze for the veggies. Broil without turning until cooked through, approximately 8 minutes, brushing with glaze every 2 minutes.
If you are good at multi-tasking, when you put your salmon in, you can also heat 2 T. of oil in a large heavy skillet (or wok). Add the minced ginger and cook on high for about 30 seconds. Add the white part of the bok choy and stir-fry for about 3 minutes, or until the stalks begin to soften. Add green part of the bok choy, baby corn, and a sprinkle of salt. Stir fry until bok choy is wilted and corn is heated through, about 2 minutes. (I found it helped to have all the ingredients lined up and ready to go.) Add sliced fresh basil and 3 T. glaze and stir to coat.
Serve! (I screwed up. This would have looked a lot better if I had not cut the fillet. ) BTW, this is only about a 3/4 lb fillet, so if you are cooking for one, you can get a really nice cut of wild-caught salmon for less than $6-7.
Again, I'd replace the bok choy/baby corn combo with whatever vegetables you typically like in a stir-fry, or make it easy on yourself and serve with a salad. It was a lot of work to go through to get a bland side to an otherwise fantastic dinner.
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