Salmon With Sizzling Coriander

As the author says, it is a superb salmon dish from America. And in case you did not know, coriander is known as cilantro there. The recipe is from the book “Coriander – A Book of Recipes”, 1997, written by Hellen Sudell. I followed it years and years ago and it was good. You can check another recipe from this book, fragrant coriander rice and hopefully will tempt you to follow it too.

Salmon With Sizzling Coriander

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 4 salmon steaks, about 175/ 6 oz each
• 4 tbsp/ 60 ml chopped fresh coriander
• 3 tbsp/ 45 ml grated fresh root ginger
• 3 spring onions, finely chopped
• 4 tbsp/ 60 ml soy sauce, plus extra to serve
• 5 tbsp/ 75 ml olive oil (or cold-pressed sunflower oil if you don’t have olive oil, like me ;)) )
• salt and ground black pepper
• lettuce and coriander sprigs, to garnish

Method:

• Season the salmon steaks on both sides with salt and pepper. Prepare a steamer, add the salmon steaks, cover and steam for 7-8 minutes until the fish is opaque throughout. Imho, if the steaks are too thick, may be you should check the salmon after that time and leave it a few more minutes.
• Place the steamed salmon steaks on warmed plates. Divide the chopped coriander among them, mounding it on top of the fish. Sprinkle with the ginger and then the spring onions. Drizzle 15 ml/ 1 tbsp of soy sauce over each salmon steak.
• Heat the oil in a small heavy-based saucepan until very hot. Spoon the hot oil over each salmon steak and serve immediately, with more soy sauce, if you like. Garnish with lettuce and coriander sprigs.

Cook’s Tip: If you don’t own a steamer, cook the fish steaks on a lightly buttered plate over a pan of simmering water. Cover the fish with greaseproof paper or invert a second plate on top.

Enjoy your meal!

Elena G

 

Fragrant Coriander Rice

It is Lent.  I usually keep it for 2 weeks and I always end up feeling light and good. Do you know how we Romanian keep Lent? If  you don’t , let me tell you: no meat, eggs, cheese, milk or any other animal products except fish on certain days. But this will not keep me from keeping it. ;))

I have to admit that the recipes that I picked are almost all with some animal product in them. This one is one of the few that is without. So it is perfect for Lent or any other day. I have taken it from the book “Coriander – A Book of Recipes” and is probably Indian or Arabic, let me know the origin, please. Anyway, it is a very perfumed recipe, fresh and light. I have to admit I am not quite taken about it but the persons who have tried it, shesaid it is very good. This is what happens: I make a recipe that I like and end up saying myself how delicious it is and everybody around is saying the same, but when I make a recipe and say I am not into it, I always have a surprise: people are telling me it is so good. Don’t take me too seriously. I am just a fussy eater. ;))

About the recipe, there are some ingredients you might not find in Romania always. But it is ok, you can replace some, you will find them in brackets, and the rice is delicious all the same.

FRAGRANT CORIANDER RICE

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 225 g/ 8 oz/ 1 cup brown basmati rice
• 15 ml/ 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2,5 cm/ 1 in piece of fresh root ginger, peeled and finely chopped
• 7,5 ml/ 1 1/2 tsp coriander seeds
• 7,5/ 1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 piece of lemon grass, finely chopped
• grated rind of 2 limes (or lemons)
• 750 ml/ 1 1/4 pints/ 3 cups vegetable stock (or plain water)
• 60 ml/ 4 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
• lime (lemon) wedges, to serve

Method:

• Put the rice into a large bowl of cold water. Swill the grains around with your hands, then tip out cloudy water (the rice will quickly sink to the bottom). Repeat this action about five times. If there is time , soak the rice for about 5 minutes.
• Heat the oil in a large saucepan and add the onion, spices, lemon grass and grated lime rind. Cook gently for 2-3 minutes.
• Add the rice, turning it in the mixture to coat the grains. Cook for 1 minute more, then add the stock and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to very low and cover the pan. Cook gently for 30 minutes, then check the rice; if it still crunchy, cover the pan again and leave for a further 3-5 minutes. Remove from the heat.
• Stir in the fresh coriander, fluff up the grains, cover the pan and leave for 10 minutes. Serve at once, with lime wedges.

Cook’s Tip

Other varieties of rice, such as white basmati or long grain can be used for this dish, but you will need to adjust the cooking times accordingly.

Bon appetite!