Chinese Black Salmon, Part of Your Japanese Meal

Oh, sure, it looks and sounds fancy but aside from the allotted time for marinating, cooking rice, and minutes for the vegetables to simmer, the meal was far too easy to throw together. Prep-cooking has become one of my favorite ways to cook. Half way prepare the meal, do what I have to do in the day, and then come home and prepare dinner in less than thirty to forty five minutes. Not to mention that 98% of the time everything I make is darn well tasty. At least I’m satisfied from the outcome.

I wasn’t too enthused with my Thai hen curry even though I followed it step by step, word for word, so I’ll remake it another time with perhaps chicken breast or thighs. I think the issue with it was that the meat hadn’t the time to absorb the flavors of the curry paste so I’m going to marinade it next time around. That’s why, in this recipe, I let the salmon marinade instead of simply seasoning the fillet and it came out juicy and savory - perfect in my eyes. Marinating is a wonderful step in flavoring your protein even though it can take time. Most thick cuts of protein benefit more from a marinade than thinner cuts, which might not need it. Fish marinates well; however, I would not allow it to sit in a acid marinade unless I desire a partially cooked result which would subtract cooking time. An example of acid cooked fish is simply shrimp or fish ceviche, where the fish cooks in a acidic flavored marinade of lemon or lime juice and whatever spices. The fish, being so thin and delicate, hit’s the high acidic solution and begins to cook. This is slightly similar as to how fruits and vegetables with low acidity start to brown when they’re cut.

This is also why the lime juice is in the vinaigrette as opposed to the marinade. I didn’t want the salmon to cook before it hit the pan.

Another new vegetable I decided to try (the market had an amazing produce discount; I couldn’t help myself!) was Chinese broccoli, AKA, Gai Lan. If you’re familiar with broccoli rabe, rapini, or bitter broccoli, Chinese broccoli tastes exactly the same; it’s just thicker. Every so often, I enjoy bitter broccoli so this was a pleasant change of taste for me or, rather, a taste of the past. I always had a problem with eating rabe (I’m Italian, that’s my name for it) but as I aged my tastes drastically adapted to more a more “complex” level. Of course, the sugar did help a great deal - hehe. Don't over simmer the Gai Lan but just enough so that the thick stems - I used the thickest ones I had in the bunch - become just tender. The other vegetable I tried was winter melon AKA ash gourd, white melon, tougan…It has a long list. Honestly, I didn’t like it. Its taste resembled a watered down cucumber and I’m not fan of cucumbers as it is which is why I’m going to supply the recipe nix the tougan. Just double the amount of kabocha; one can never have too much pumpkin in their life.

Tougan is like an artichoke: it may look pretty but in the end it’s a very disappointing vegetable.

Chinese Black Salmon
6 oz salmon, skin on

Marinade:
2 tsp honey
2 tsp Chinese five spices
½ tbsp margarine

Vinaigrette:
½ tbsp fermented black beans
Lime juice
Ginger
Garlic

Mix the marinade ingredients, rub it entirely all over the fish assuring that every inch is coated then leave it in the refrigerator overnight or at least an hour.

Soak the fermented black beans - douchi - in hot water for 30 minutes to soften. After this, drain some of the liquid and add to what’s left the lime juice, ginger, and garlic. Keep refrigerated until necessary.

After sufficient marinating time, get your fish ready. Just lightly coat a pan with nonstick cooking spray and sear the fish on all sides until it becomes brown and the salmon turns just a light pink.

Place the salmon on a plate and pour the vinaigrette over top.

Serve with rice and accompaniments

Kabocha-Salad
¼ of an onion, cut into thin slivers
1 cup of Kabocha, chopped into even chunks
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp ginger
2 tsp soy
2 tbsp mayonaise/mayo sub

Slice the onion into thin slivers and place in a bowl. Cut the tougan - ash gourd - and kabocha into small dices then steam until soft. Combine the tougan, kabocha, soy, sugar, ginger, and mayo in a bowl. Allow to marinade and absorb the flavors over night.

Simmered Gai Lan
8 stems/pieces of Gai Lan, ends removed & cut in half
1 ½ cups of daishi or broth
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp sugar or mirin

Combine the daishi, soy, and mirin or sugar in a pot and bring it to a boil. Add the Gai Lan, reduce to simmer and cover. It should take about ten to fifteen minutes judging by the size of your broccoli.