Steamed Salmon With Aromatics
Delicious, simple, nutritious and easy to prepare. This is an ideal recipe if you are cooking for one, or scaling up to cook for 10 or more people. The flavors experienced when eating this dish come to life from the naturally occurring aromatic oils that are released during the steaming process. To take this recipe to the next level, the salmon is tempered with hot oil and more aromatics once it has been cooked. This recipe is all about creating a delicate balance of flavors that are created by layering aromatics. This is achieved by using two different cooking techniques. The two moving parts of this recipe are steaming and tempering. Steaming the fish is done with ginger, garlic, white of green onions and fresno peppers, which cooks the fish and imparts flavor. And then to punch up the flavor, the fish is tempered with hot oil and lots of cilantro, green onion tops and if desired slices of fresno pepper right before serving.
Equipment
- Steamer
- Steaming plate or dish
- small saucepan
Ingredients
- 16 oz. salmon center cut fillet
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 cloves of garlic minced or sliced
- 1 thumb size of fresh ginger peeled and sliced
- 3-6 spring onions whites cut into 1-2 inch pieces and the green tops sliced into julienne
- 1/4 cup cilantro washed and dried
- 1 fresno chili sliced
- 2 tsp thin soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp white pepper
- 1 pinch of kosher salt or as needed
- 1/2 tsp of sesame oil
- 2-3 tbsp high temperature cooking oil
Instructions
- Whisk the soy sauce and sesame oil together and set aside.
- Rinse salmon and pat dry. Season both sides with thin soy, white pepper and salt. Allow to marinade for 15- 60 minutes.
Setting up steamer
- Place the steamer over boiling water. On the steaming plate or dish create a bed of aromatics using half of the crushed garlic, ginger slices and white part of the spring onion. Place the salmon on top of the aromatics skin side down.
Steaming fish
- Evenly distribute the remaining steaming aromatics, including the sliced fresno peppers on top of the salmon.
- Whisk the soy sauce and sesame oil again and pour the sauce mixture over the salmon. I usually do this once I’ve placed the salmon into the steamer.
- Place the prepared salmon into the steamer and cover with a tight-fitting lid. Steam on high heat for 7-9 minutes. The cooking time is based on how thick the fish is.
- The salmon should be opaque, flakey and tender when cooked or have an internal temperature of 145°F. Note: the salmon can be steamed to your desired doneness. Turn the heat off. Leave the salmon in the steamer uncovered.
Tempering
- In a small saucepan over high heat, heat high temperature cooking oil, I use avocado oil, to just below the smoking point.
- Cover the salmon with the green onion tops and cilantro and sliced fresno peppers if desired. These aromatics should be piled high.
- Temper the aromatics by drizzling the hot oil all over them. Use caution as the oil can sometimes splatter as it sizzles. This recipe creates a delicious and fragrant sauce that is packed with flavor and umami.
- Serve over hot steaming rice.
Video
Notes
Cuts of Fish
This recipe can be used with fillets of fish, fish steaks or whole fish.
Steaming Whole Fish
When using whole fish, make sure that has been scaled, and gutted.  Always rinse well under running cold water, and then pat dry. Season with marinade inside and out and remember to place aromatics into the cavity before steaming. When the fish is cooked, remove the aromatics from the cavity after tempering, and before serving. The skin of the fish is easily removed, and the fish is very easy to debone before serving,
Aromatics
You can use any aromatics of your choice, lemongrass, thyme, rosemary, pimentos, kaffir leaves, curry leaves and the list goes on.
Nutrition
Serving: 4ServingsCalories: 243kcalCarbohydrates: 3gProtein: 24gFat: 15gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 5gMonounsaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0.03gCholesterol: 62mgSodium: 732mgPotassium: 633mgFiber: 1gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 240IUVitamin C: 7mgCalcium: 27mgIron: 1mg
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