Pan-Seared Salmon with Thai Basil Sauce

I wasn’t originally going to post on the wonderfully yummy pan-seared salmon the Professor made the other day. Not because it didn’t turn out good (because it most certainly did) but for a rather silly reason, actually. I didn’t like the photos I took of the meal. I felt they didn’t come anywhere near doing justice to the fruits of the Professor’s labors. The lighting was bad and it was before I learned the trick of using found objects (water glasses, markers, bottles, bowls, etc) as a tripod to steady the camera. But then the Professor put together a really nice write up on the dish that includes the recipe and, well, how could I not post it? I still don’t like the photo, so I made it small and put it in the corner…

So here it is, the Professor’s musings on pan-seared salmon with Thai basil sauce:

Pan-Seared Salmon with Thai Basil Sauce

It used to drive me crazy that my mom, like most Korean moms ---or any moms, I suppose--- never kept any recipe of her wonderfully yummy dishes. How was I supposed to replicate them without recipes, I would complain. My mom would tell me I’d know by remembering what they tasted like and looked like. Besides, she would say, you are supposed to learn by watching and cooking beside your mother, not by just reading about it. I never really believed her. Until recently, that is.

After spending a year in New York, I started cooking more often. During my first year in the Big Apple, I was pretty enamored with take-outs. In Seattle where I come from, there are very few take-out options. I was thrilled to learn that in New York, I could get pretty much any sort of food delivered to my door at almost any time of day. I loved it. I still have a couple of my favorite take-out joints on my cell phone. I’d call as soon as I get out of the subway and call them for sautéed pea shoots and Malaysian chow mein, aloo gobi and garlic nan, or spicy Penang noodles and tom yum goong. By the time I get home and change my clothes, the delivery guy would be ringing my buzzer, and I’d be happily slurping down the food prepared by a stranger in no time, even during a snow storm.

But after a while, I started missing home-cooked meals. It probably has to do with the fact that there are just no good Korean take-out options in my neighborhood. So, when I missed the kind of food that not only filled my stomach but also fed my soul, I started cooking those Korean dishes my mom used to make me. Yes, by memory. I would get a hankering for a specific taste; say the soothing and earthy flavor of denjang chigae (a Korean stew made of fermented soy bean paste similar to miso, vegetable, potatoes, and tofu). I would start imagining the pungent smell of the soy paste and the pleasingly harmonious colors of the vegetable in the soup, and amazingly enough, I would know which ingredients were needed. How much of them to put in the stew? My mom would say, “just enough,” which seemed the most unhelpful answer in the world. But soon I was able to figure out what “just enough” was after a few trials. Besides, a good cook is supposed to adjust the taste by sampling the food while it is being made. I also discovered cooking helped me relax and stay creative.

After some successes and some disappointments with my Korean food experiments, I started trying my other favorite dishes. Some of them were easy to figure out, like the linguini with vegetarian ragu I made the other day to go with the tempranillo. Others took a bit of research. The Pan-seared salmon with Thai basil sauce I made the other day for me and Dantae was such an experiment. I was in the mood for a pan-seared fish with a Thai-basil sauce I had in Thai restaurants, but I couldn’t find the right recipe. So I decided to get a little creative with a recipe I found in About.com. I’ve reproduced the recipe here with my adaptation.

The Professor’s Pan-Seared Salmon with Thai Basil Sauce (Adapted from About.com)

INGREDIENTS:

• 2-4 salmon fillets (if making more, double the marinade/sauce recipe) - if frozen, thaw in a bowl of cool water
• 1 medium onion, chopped coarsely
• 1 green bell pepper, coarsely chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, coarsely chopped
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 2-4 Tbsp. canola oil (or other vegetable oil) for frying
• MARINADE/SAUCE:
• 1/2 cup rice vinegar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 fresh red chili (de-seeded for less heat), minced or finely sliced
• 1 Tbsp. fish sauce
• 1 Tbsp. soy sauce
• 1 tsp. dark soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. (or more, if you like the taste) finely chopped lemongrass
• 3-4 sprigs fresh Thai basil, stems removed and coarsely chopped
• GARNISH:
• handful of fresh coriander or flat-leaf parsley

PREPARATION:

1. To make the marinade/sauce, place all marinade ingredients except for the basil together in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir as you bring the sauce to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium, add basil, and allow to simmer for 10 minutes, uncovered. The sauce will gradually thicken. When marinade/sauce has thickened, place in the refrigerator or freezer to cool for 5 minutes.

2. Place salmon fillets in a flat-bottomed pan or casserole dish in a single layer. When the sauce/marinade has cooled slightly, spoon 2 Tbsp. over each fillet, 1 per side. Allow to marinate in the refrigerator 30 minutes to several hours.

3. In a hot wok, heat 1-2 Tbsp. oil on med- high heat. When the oil is hot, quickly stir-fry the chopped onions and bell peppers, seasoning with salt and pepper. Do not leave the vegetables in the wok too long; they should still be crunchy.

4. Arrange the stir-fried vegetables on the plates.

5. Place a clean frying pan or wok on medium-high heat, allowing it to warm up for at least 1 minute before adding the oil (this will help prevent the fish from sticking).

6. When pan is hot, add 1-2 Tbsp. oil, lifting and turning the pan to distribute evenly. Now place fillets in the pan.

7. Allow fillets to fry at least 1 minute before turning them. Tip: if you turn the fish too soon, it will stick - allow it to "sear", and it will come freely away from the bottom of the pan.

8. Fry the fish for 3-5 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish. Salmon is done when inner flesh is no longer transparent.

9. While the fillets are being cooked, re-heat the remaining sauce.

10. When fish is done, arrange it on top of the vegetable. Spoon a little sauce over each fillet. Garnish each dish with coriander or parsley.

11. Place the rest of the marinade in a side dish and serve as a dipping sauce.

12. Serve with Thai jasmine rice. (I served it with brown basmati rice when I made this dish the other day, but it is best when paired with jasmine rice.)

*Serve with a Gewurztraminer, Riesling, a lighter beer (e.g., Singha), cold sake, or a Thai ice tea.