Thursday 10 April 2014

A FRESH RECIPE FOR SPRING...


ALL PICTURES: SOPHIA HOME

After the comfort food of winter, Spring signals the need for something lighter. 
I adore the fresh, vibrant flavours of Vietnamese cooking, so when I came across this recipe in a new Easter 'Waitrose' supplement, I had to give it a try last weekend.  




Vietnamese-style Salmon…..marinaded in a delicious mix including chilli, garlic, ginger and coriander….it is also easy and therefore perfect for entertaining as well as for an everyday treat.  Accompanied by a Vietnamese noodle salad, packed with herbs and crunchy raw vegetables, it is a healthy, zingy dish to awaken the tastebuds!






Vietnamese-Style Salmon

1kg side of salmon

For the marinade
1 red chilli, finely sliced 
a thumb-sized piece of ginger grated
a few springs of coriander, chopped
1 small shallot, finely chopped
1 small clove of garlic, minced
1 tbsp groundnut oil or vegetable oil
1 tbsp fish sauce

For the sauce
100g sugar
1 tbsp water
3 tbsp fish sauce
zest and juice of one lime

For the salad
6 shallots, sliced very finely
4 tbsp groundnut or vegetable oil
150g dry fine rice noodles, cooked to packet instructions
2 medium carrots, cut into fine matchsticks
1/2 a small cucumber, deseeded and cut into fine matchsticks
a decent bunch of coriander picked from the stalk
a decent bunch of mint picked from the stalk
juice of one lime
1 tbsp fish sauce
a handful of peanuts crushed
a few sliced chillies to serve on the side (!)

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180c then gently mix the marinade ingredients together in a bowl.  Place the salmon skin-side down on a foil-lined roasting tray and spread the mixture over its flesh.  Leave marinating for at least one hour.

Make the sticky caramelised sauce by melting the sugar and water together in a heavy-bottomed pan.  Heat but don't stir as the sugar caramelises to a light golden colour, then quickly as the sugar is likely to burn, add the fish sauce and lime juice.  Set aside to cool a little, and then pour over the marinated salmon.

Pop into the oven for 20-25 minutes until the fish is cooked.

In a small frying pan, fry the shallots for the salad in the oil until they turn deep golden.  Fish out with a slotted spoon and set to cool on a piece of kitchen paper.

Assemble the salad by placing all the other ingredients (bar the peanuts) together in a large bowl.  Squeeze over the lime, drizzle with fish sauce, top with a scattering of peanuts and crispy shallots then serve next to the hot, sticky salmon.


Bon appétit!

***

Hope you are having a lovely week!

Sophia xx

2 comments:

  1. Hi Sophia, We're all on super-health kicks at the moment, so any new recipes gratefully received.
    Hope its sunny where you are this morning.
    Have a lovely day,
    Lizx

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you Liz,
    It really was delicious, so do try it!

    Sophia x

    ReplyDelete