Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Ginger-Lime Salmon Rice Bowl

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Hrrmmpphhh...maybe I should change that title to A Whole Lotta Ginger-Lime Salmon and a Smudgeon of Rice - given the proportions in the picture above....
Every Tuesday, our local paper has a Health section with Dr. (Celebrity) Oz who is always on Oprah's show, wearing his medical scrubs and showing us the inside of a colon. OK, I digress...but why should he wear medical attire on a day time TALK show?
Back to the point, the article repeats one thing every week - Eat salmon. Eat more salmon. Eat as much salmon as you can. So in a feeble attempt to get healthy and stop eating cake, more cake, and even more cake everyday which is the case chez-nous, I've been attempting to have us eat more salmon.
Except I only know of about two ways to make it.
Let the Salmon Games begin...
Here's an Asian inspired salmon recipe from Chef Mai Pham that originally called for the salmon to be simply pan-seared and served up with a refreshing ginger lime sauce. I don't like plain salmon, so I decided to quickly marinate the salmon in the sauce and cook it in it as well, and throw in some garlic for good measure.
Because we love garlic over here. It's a close second to cake.
Ginger-Lime Salmon Rice Bowl (adapted from Food and Wine magazine, 2006)
Two 6-ounce skinless salmon fillets
1 1/2 Tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and minced/crushed
1 Thai red chile, chopped (or substitute 1/2 tsp red chilli powder)
1 Tbsp garlic, peeled and crushed
1 Tbsp sugar (reduce if you do not like overtly sweet dishes)
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1 Tbsp Asian fish sauce or to taste
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups hot cooked rice (I used Jasmine rice)
Optional: one small Kirby cucumber

1. Grind together the ginger, garlic, sugar and chile in a mortar and pestle to get a coarse paste.
2. Transfer paste to a bowl, and add fish sauce and lime juice and mix.
3. Reserve about a Tbsp of this sauce into another bowl and thin out with a little water. Adjust for salt and keep aside.
4. Slash the fillets and season with salt and pepper. Pour on the sauce from (2) onto the fillets, and rub in well. Refrigerate fillets for up to an hour.
5. Heat a non-stick skillet or griddle and add oil. Add the salmon fillets and cook over moderate heat. Turn fillets over so that both sides are cooked and fish is opaque and garlic-ginger in the marinade has turned golden-brown.
6. Mound rice into bowls, and top with the salmon.
7. Serve with extra sauce (from (3)), or cut the cucumber into thin strips, dip into the sauce and serve as an accompaniment.

5 comments:

FH said...

Simple and healthy meal, looks great.

Chef Aimee said...

I love ginger and lime together - looks delicious!

Deena said...

Looks great - will try it out! I usually just marinate my salmon pieces with chilli powder, turmeric, pepper, ginger (you could add a bit of garlic as well) and salt for a couple hours and then grill these - tastes fantastic!

tasteofbeirut said...

Ann

One time they interviewed this Palestinian woman who was 112 and asked her what she eats to stay healthy and alive so long and her answer was " I eat olive oil every day"
I am not fond of salmon, but yours with the rice looks good and of course healthy!

Desisoccermom said...

Garlic is close second to cake in your house? You crack me up Ann. I haven't cooked salmon in ages just because there was a lot of noise a couple of years ago of how it contains a lot of mercury. Then it was supposed to be eaten just once a week, I think.
Now, Dr Oz wants us to eat it as much as we can. We will see what he has to say when he gets mercury poisoning! And I agree, why does he have to wear scrubs on a day time TALK show? We get it, he is a doctor. I am sure people will still listen to him in regular clothes. :) Me, I don't even listen to my own doctor.