I love eating fish -- but for some reason, I always save cooking it for the weekend. Having it on a weekday just doesn't feel quite right to me. It's either too fancy or feels too serious for a middle of the week kind of dinner. But, this dish changed all of that. It was on the table in 30 minutes and made for a pretty plate...even on a Wednesday.
Ingredients:
3-4 large carrots, peeled and thinly sliced into rounds
2 1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp ginger powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp honey
2 tsp plus 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
3 TBS unsalted butter, room temperature
3 tsp minced fresh ginger
2 tsp minced garlic
2 skinless 4 oz. fresh salmon fillets (I used Alaskan wild-caught)
4 oz dried buckwheat soba noodles
4 TBS rice wine vinegar
1 tsp extra fine sugar
1 1/2 TBS black sesame seeds
1 1/2 TBS white sesame seeds
Note: This recipe serves two, but is easy to double, triple, etc.
Minimal MESS/ingredients/clean-up: Category 2
To Do:
- Place the carrots in a small pot and stir in 1/2 tsp sesame oil, the garlic and ginger powders, the honey, and 2 tsp of soy sauce. Cover, and cook over medium heat until tender and browned.
- Melt 2 TBS of the butter in a dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add in 2 tsp of minced ginger and 1 tsp minced garlic.
- In the meantime, prepare the soba noodles according to the package directions, then drain and set aside.
- Gently place the salmon fillets top-side down in the pan with the butter, ginger and garlic, and reduce heat to medium-low. When the salmon can be easily moved in the pan (it's ready when it doesn't stick), flip it and reduce the heat to low. Drizzle with a teaspoon or so of sesame oil, then cover the pot and let the salmon continue to cook a few minutes more.
- In a small bowl, whisk together 1 tsp sesame oil, 1/2 cup soy sauce, the rice wine vinegar, sugar, one heaping tsp each of minced ginger and garlic, and 1 TBS each white and black sesame seeds. Then, add about 1/2 of the mixture to a large serving bowl. Add in the hot cooked carrots and the drained noodles and toss until coated, using more of the sauce as needed.
- Check the salmon. If it is starting to flake and looks cooked through, remove from heat.
- Now, for the best part: Use tongs to place a pile of the noodle/carrot mixture on each plate then top the noodles with a piece of the flaky, buttery salmon. Next, add a thin pat of butter to each piece of fish, then sprinkle with black and white sesame seeds before serving.
xoxo
