Tea-smoked wild salmon

If you’ve never tea-smoked your salmon, the time has come! The flavour all depends on your choice of tea leaves. I’ve tried everything from gunpowder tea to Lapsang Souchong, and I find tea with a smoky flavour works best. I prefer to keep my salmon in one piece for this recipe, but you can easily use fillets.

PREP TIME – 4 HOURS 30 MINUTES (INCLUDING 2 HOURS FOR MARINADE) COOK TIME –

30 MINUTES SERVES – 4 SMARTPOINTS – 9 PER SERVING CALORIES – 346 PER SERVING

MARINADE

⅓ cup soy sauce

1 tablespoon agave nectar

Zest and juice of ½ orange

1 clove garlic, grated on a Microplane 1 teaspoon minced or grated (on a Microplane) ginger

Zest of 1 lime

Juice of 2 limes

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

700g king salmon, skin removed

FOR SMOKING THE SALMON

(Note: these ingredients are not eaten) ¼ cup uncooked jasmine rice

¼ cup jasmine or black tea leaves 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon brown sugar

6 whole star anise

1 thumb-size piece fresh ginger, sliced 6 black peppercorns

1 cinnamon stick, crushed

Extra virgin olive oil cooking spray

GARNISHES

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

½ cup thinly sliced green onions, white and green parts

½ cup chopped fresh coriander leaves 1 tablespoon black sesame seeds

To make the marinade: In a small bowl, whisk together all the marinade ingredients. Place the salmon in a large zip-top bag and pour the marinade over the fish. Secure the bag, place it in a bowl and place in the refrigerator to marinate for 1 to 2 hours, turning the bag occasionally to make sure all parts of the salmon soak in the marinade. Remove the salmon from the marinade and discard the marinade and bag. Place the salmon on a plate and pat dry with paper towels. Put it back in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour or up to overnight. When you take it out, it should feel dry but slightly sticky – this will allow the fish to soak up as much of the smoke flavour as possible. Now get ready to smoke!