Monday, April 19, 2010

Sesame salmon stir-fry

All week I had been looking at recipes and I had originally planned something with phyllo and mango salsa and such but Alvaro and I were both feeling like we'd eaten too much heavy stuff in the past couple of days and I was craving lots of veggies so my inspiration was just to create something terribly light and simple this week. A stir-fry seemed the obvious answer.
So I started to root around in the pantry and fridge to see what I had lying around and - boom - sesame paste leaped out at me ... yumm ... what's not to like about sesame?
After a quick jaunt to the shops for some extra veg to stretch out what was in the fridge (a couple of onions and a red and green pepper), I whipped this up.
It's really fast and so delicious. The sweet of sesame with the heat of chili works beautifully together. And with keeping some of the less healthy parts of it in line (like low-salt soya sauce), I think even my cardiologist would approve.
Obviously almost any veggies will do ... total of about 3 cups of veg.

Sesame Salmon Stir-fry
Makes two generous servings
400 grams (nearly a pound) of sockeye salmon, cut into 1-inch squares
1 pkg. (200 grams) fresh udon noodles (or rice, or other noodles to suit your taste)
1/2 large red pepper, diced small
1/2 large green pepper, cut into strips and then each strip in half
1 cup snow peas, rinsed
1 medium sized carrot, scrape, then slice into thin ovals
1 stalk of celery, chopped
1 medium red onion, peeled then sliced into half rounds or diced
1/2 inch fresh ginger grated or chopped fine, or tsp. ginger paste
4 garlic gloves (we love garlic) peeled and sliced
sesame oil
scant tbsp sesame paste
cooking oil
1 tbsp. low-salt soya sauce
1/2-1 tsp. chili flakes
sesame seeds

Mix together sesame paste with tbsp. soya sauce, chili flakes and ginger and set aside. (If you want a bit more sauce, add a tsp. of lemon juice or even just water)
Put a small pan of water on to boil. When boiling, add udon noodles and drain after cooking for about 4 minutes.
Heat 1 tsp. each of sesame oil and cooking oil in sauce pan and lightly sear salmon pieces on each side; about 1 minute per side. (In retrospect, it might have been easier to sear the whole piece and then cut it into chunks, but live and learn). Set aside.
Into hot pan (maybe drizzle in a touch more sesame oil at this time), lightly stir-fry your onion, garlic and carrot. After about 30 seconds, add the other veggies, stir around a few times then add your soya-sesame liquid, stir well. After a minute, add the salmon back in to reheat.
Plate your noodles (bowl is better than plate really) and mound up the salmon and veggies on top. Sprinkle with a few sesame seeds and maybe a pinch for chili flakes if you're in the mood for a little fire (I was).
This satisfied all my cravings for crunchy veg that wasn't a salad (It was gloomy out and I needed something warm) and included the aromatics of garlic, ginger and onion with the heat of chilies that for me is just the best flavour around. Very satisfying.
Salmon was the perfect fish for this. Sockeye, particularly can hold its own with strong flavours.
It all turned out colourful, tasty and fast and also quite healthy. Add to that the alliteration of the name of the recipe and I was a happy camper.




1 comment:

  1. hey Lynn.. can you tell me more about sesame paste.. I know about tahini.. is that the same thing?? this sounds completely wonderful..

    Helen Martin

    ReplyDelete