Eat Your Salmon – Thai Style!

My family and I LOVE salmon!  We make it a point to have salmon at least once a week.   It has so much of its own inherent flavor that I usually just cook it very simply…with salt, pepper (BTW: I prefer crushed red pepper – try it, it comes out really great!) and lemon juice. 

But then, there are times when I feel like changing things up a bit…turn up the volume… shake things up … you know what I mean, right?  

When such a mood strikes me, I love to make Thai style salmon.   I had this dish in an Asian restaurant once, many years ago, and it just stuck with me.  Quite simply, it is grilled salmon sitting on a bed of jasmine rice, surrounded by Thai style yellow curry. 

Since the salmon is grilled separately, it stays crisp and maintains it own clean flavors.  The creamy curry and fragrant rice underneath is a great compliment to the crispy and juicy salmon.  The result: an extremely wholesome and soul-satisfying meal. 

If you have never tried making yellow, green or red curry at home…don’t panic.  It is actually quite simple.  The base of the sauce is coconut milk and curry paste (of the red, green or yellow variety).  Dashes of a few more ingredients like soy sauce, sweet soy sauce fish sauce add a great depth of flavor and finish the job.  If you don’t have access to an Asian grocery store, ordering online is a very good alternative.  

I usually start with one can of coconut milk, and a couple of tablespoons of the curry paste.  I typically add a bit more curry paste later on, depending on how spicy and strong I want the sauce to be.  Since salmon is a very flavorful fish to begin with, for the perfect balance it will be good to keep this sauce delicate.  Add a tablespoon each of the soy sauce, sweet soy sauce and fish sauce.  Feel free to add more if your taste buds so demand.

I like to put chopped zucchini, carrots, bell peppers and other veggies(whatever I can find the fridge) in my sauce.  Bring the whole mixture to a boil, and then simmer until the veggies are cooked through. 

Jasmine rice is easy to make…just follow the recipe on the package.      

To serve, put a mound of rice in a wide bowl surround it with the curry you just made.  Grill the salmon filet and place it on top of your rice.  I like to garnish with some scallions…they are crunchy and the fresh oniony flavor is the perfect topping.   Enjoy!

How do YOU eat your salmon?