*crispy waffle*

As a Seattlelite, I love salmon, simply because it is so ubiquitous. It also has it's virtues as an easy food at home: super easy to cook, doesn't require a grocery list of seasonings, and is hard to screw up (unless you basically set out to overcook it, which, believe me, will ruin it). Yesterday I bought a half-kilo of salmon at the fish stand without knowing what I would do with it (it was Friday, it's Lent and it's fish), but got it home and accidentally stumbled on something really good. Out of laziness I usually broil the thing with whatever spices etc. fit the bill, but this time I put it in the oven on much lower heat and the whole thing came out really really nice. It seemed to be more tender all aroundthan when it is broiled, and had a little bit of a crust from the sweet marinade. And took less than half an hour to put on the table (take that Rachael Ray!) Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures because I didn't expect anything special, but after the fam devoured it, I decided that maybe, hey, I should post the recipe.

Baked Salmon with Kecap Manis*
Ingredients:
1 pound salmon fillet
2 scallions cut in half lengthwise, and trimmed to fit your baking dish
1/2 pound spinach (or any other tender greens such as swiss chard, etc.)

For marinade:
3 tablespoons dark soy sauce (often labeled 'soy sauce superior')
2 tablespoons mirin
3 tablespoons kecap manis*
2 teaspoons sugar

For sauce:
1/2 cup stock (fish stock is nice, but chicken stock is fine)
2 teaspoons salt
A few drops of sesame oil
1 teaspoon cornstarch dissolved in 2 teaspoons water

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Place the whole salmon fillet in a shallow dish. Combine the ingredients for the marinade and pour over the salmon. Leave to marinate for 10 minutes.
Arrange the scallions in a row in the bottom of an 8x8 baking dish. Remove the salmon from the marinade and set on top of the scallions. Place in the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fillet, or until an instant-read thermometer reads 120 degrees at the thickest part of the fish. (Thanks to frequent Good Eats viewership, I have a digital probe thermometer, which is really handy for everything like this, not to mention Alton Brown's excellent recipe for standing rib roast.) I had a pretty thick piece of fish the other day, so it actually ended up taking about 18 minutes to reach the 120 degrees.
Meanwhile, make the sauce. Combine the marinade with the stock, salt and sesame oil and bring to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Dunk the spinach in the sauce until it wilts slightly (this should only take a few seconds) and remove the spinach (sans sauce) to your serving dish. Add the dissolved cornstarch to the simmering sauce and allow to thicken slightly.
Remove salmon from the oven and transfer it and the scallions to serving dish with the spinach. Pour the sauce over it and serve with lots of white rice.

*Kecap manis is a sweet soy sauce from Indonesia. I was introduced to its virtues ever since moving to Holland, where it is used extensively in Indonesian cooking. It's readily available in Asian grocery stores such as Uwajimaya in Seattle, and is basically the same product as Thai sweet soy sauce.

Labels: recipes, the savory and salty

posted by sheryl | 12:19 PM | | share: facebook | tweet this!

Ah, salmon, spinach, and rice, I love it.

Soy sauce and salmon is one of the most glorious, unsung matches. It's really the only reason I have soy sauce in my fridge. I really only use it for that, and for sushi, and that's about it.
By

john patrick 4/9/06 6:32 AM

I totally agree! When it comes to salmon, I always gravitate to soy sauce first. In fact, my friend Kay usually does nothing more than marinate salmon in straight soy sauce (nothing else) and throw it on the grill. Delicious, and truly a two-ingredient dish (except of course, you MUST eat it with steamed rice, which makes three ingredients.)
By

sheryl 4/10/06 11:41 AM