Tea-smoked wild salmon
I love the incredible layers of flavour in this recipe. It’s bright, spicy, slightly sweet and full of freshness.
PREP TIME – 30 MINUTES COOK TIME – 30 MINUTES SERVES – 6 SMARTPOINTS – 6 PER SERVING CALORIES – 253 PER SERVING 1 tablespoon coconut oil 2.5cm piece ginger, grated on a Microplane 2 shallots, minced 3 spring onions, white parts only, chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 small red chilli, seeds removed and thinly sliced 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon prepared Thai red curry paste 400g can unsweetened lite coconut milk 2 teaspoons Thai fish sauce 2 teaspoons agave nectar 700g large uncooked prawns, peeled and deveined 1 cup thinly sliced (on the diagonal) sugar snap peas 1 red capsicum, cored, seeded, and julienned 1 yellow capsicum, cored, seeded and julienned 1 medium zucchini, cut into ¼-inch cubes Up to ½ cup vegetable stock 1 cup fresh or thawed frozen peas 1 cup cubed (1cm cubes) fresh pineapple Zest and juice of 1 lime, or to taste Sea salt Steamed rice for serving (optional)
GARNISHES
Finely chopped fresh chives Finely chopped fresh Thai basil Whole fresh coriander leaves
In a large sauté pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the ginger, shallots, spring onion, garlic and chilli, and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until the shallots are softened. Add the red curry paste and cook, stirring often, for an additional 4 minutes, adding a tiny bit of water if the paste starts to stick to the bottom of the pan. Pour in the coconut milk, fish sauce and agave, and bring to a simmer. Add the prawns, sugar snap peas, capsicums and zucchini, and return to a simmer. Reduce the heat to mediumlow and cook for 8 minutes, or until the prawns are cooked through and the vegetables are crisp-tender, adding some vegetable stock if needed to keep all the ingredients moist. Add the peas, pineapple and lime zest and juice and season with salt. Remove from heat and stir in the herb garnishes. Serve over rice if you like.
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 syrup 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 spring 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!