Lime and Fresh Turmeric Salmon with Baked Lime Leaf Rice
Use fresh turmeric and wild salmon for maximum deliciousness!
INGREDIENTS
SALMON
2-3 salmon fillets {about 180g each}
1 ‘finger’ of fresh turmeric, finely grated OR ½ tsp ground turmeric
“Thumb-end” of fresh ginger, finely grated
1 tsp dark brown sugar
1 tsp each of Sichuan peppers and black peppercorns {or just the black peppercorns if you can’t get the tingly Sichuans}, toast in a hot pan for 30 seconds then bash in a pestle and mortar
2 tbsp fresh lime juice {about ½ a large lime}
1 spicy red chile, remove seeds and finely chop
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce or tamari sauce {or all soy/tamari sauce instead of fish sauce}
1-2 shallots or 1/2 small onion, finely chopped
½ tsp chopped lime leaf OR 1 tsp lime zest
Oil for griddling
5-6 spring onions/scallions, trimmed and sliced in half lengthways
RICE
150g basmati rice
1 tsp virgin coconut oil
300ml water
½ tsp chopped lime leaf OR 1 tsp lime zest
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat the oven to 400F.
2. Mix the marinating ingredients together in a dish that will fit the fish snugly. Add in the fish and turn a few times to coat. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and let the flavors meld for 20 minutes. If you want to do this on the barbeque grill, depending on what type you are using, get that going in advance. For a griddle pan, heat this a few minutes before the marinating time is up. You want it good and hot to reduce the chance of sticking.
3. While the fish is marinating, add 1 tsp of oil to a hob-to-oven pot and heat on low-medium: a cast-iron Le Creuset-type lidded pot is perfect. Pour in the rice and sauté for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. It will smell nutty and delicious. Add in the water, some salt and the lime leaves, pop on the lid and allow the rice to come to the boil. If you don’t have such a pot, do it in a normal saucepan and scrape the rice into a lidded casserole dish and pour over the hot stock. Place the dish/pot in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. You will get very fluffy rice with no nasty overspill. I always cook rice in the oven. A trick my mom taught me. But do rice on the hob as per your normal way if you like, adding the lime leaves.
4. Brush off the marinade into a small pan for using in a few minutes. Slap the fillets on the griddle pan or the oiled surface of your barbecue. Pop on the spring onions too {do these in a pan if you are barbecuing}. Toss them around to get even softening and color. Cooking times for the salmon are a bit tricky to give as fillets vary in thickness, but my fish pieces were about 3 cm thick and I cooked them for three minutes on each side. This gave me cooked through fish, but with a soft, pinker interior. Test for your own done-ness though. 5. Plate up the fish and spring onion, and serve with the lime baked rice and maybe something like steamed broccoli or a sauteed Asian greens mixture. If you like, boil up the marinade mixture and pour it over the griddled fish.
Adapted from Kellie's Food to Glow, https://kelliesfoodtoglow.com/2014/10/02/lime-and-fresh-turmeric-salmon-with-baked-lime-leaf-rice/
