I can hardly believe January is already halfway over. The display of holiday cards has been tossed and I have reluctantly packed away the elastic waistband pants I sported over the last month. But somehow the gluttony has continued well into the new year.
It probably doesn’t help that I am the proud owner of a new pressure cooker, a gadget I highly recommend investing in — short ribs in 45 minutes! Ribs in 20! Lentils in 10!. This new toy, along with the colder weather and all the extra room I created in my stomach over December, have me obsessively trolling the Internet seeking out what other kinds of cheap, fatty meats I can make on a weeknight. Something tells me that I shouldn’t be braising oxtail regularly, but guys! Oxtail in 1 hour! A miracle!
Nonetheless, some austerity measures seem in order, despite my body craving all kinds of hearty stews and comfort foods. It took flipping through a recently gifted cookbook, by Jill Dupleix, to remember that the winter-fueled urge to tuck into a bowl of something warm and comforting doesn’t have to mean it’s calorie-laden.
I was first introduced to Dupleix in another cookbook, The Accidental Foodie, to which she contributed a recipe for “salmon in a light fragrant broth.” This dish had all the comfort you might want from the windchill, but far less of the guilt: a seared, crispy-skinned salmon fillet that is just slightly rare on the inside, served with an aromatic lemongrass broth with shiitake mushrooms and wilted spinach, and a simple bowl of steamed rice on the side. Better yet, you can have the dish on the table (and in your belly) in under 30 minutes.
Buy the best salmon you can, and ensure the skin is left on. Look for fillets that are at least an inch thick and try to get them as consistent in size as possible (or get one large piece that you can cut into pieces yourself). You could add other vegetables you like to the broth (julienned red peppers, sliced bok choy, etc.) but I love the simplicity of this dish and don’t think it needs much more.
Salmon in a light, fragrant broth
Adapted from The Accidental Foodie
Serves 4
4 150g (5.5 oz) salmon fillets, about 1 inch thick and 1 inch wide (“fingers”)
4 tbsp fish sauce
2 stems lemongrass, trimmed, peeled and finely sliced (tender white parts only)
1 1-inch piece ginger, peeled and smashed
2 shallots, peeled and finely chopped
1 small red chili, sliced lengthwise
10-12 shiitake or oyster mushrooms, sliced
3 cups baby spinach leaves, washed and drained
3 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 tsp brown sugar
2 tbsp vegetable oil
Sea salt and pepper
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
Steamed rice
1. Cut the salmon into wide fingers and coat with half the fish sauce. Set aside.
2. In a saucepan, heat 1 tbsp of the vegetable oil on medium heat. Add the lemongrass, ginger, shallots and chile, sauteing gently for a few minutes.
3. Add the stock, brown sugar and mushrooms, bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes.
4. While the broth cooks, heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a nonstick frying pan on high heat and sear the salmon, skin side down, until crisped (about 3 minutes). Turn and lightly sear the other side for a minute; you want to leave the inside pink. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Wilt the spinach in the hot broth for about 10 seconds, then remove from broth and place into four warmed shallow soup bowls. Place the salmon on top of the spinach.
6. Add remaining fish sauce and lime juice to the broth, taste for seasoning, and then spoon broth around the salmon. Serve with steamed rice on the side.
Sara Chan is a Toronto-based entertainment lawyer, food enthusiast, unprofessional home chef and even less professional food photographer. Her favourite food group is pork. Sara’s column appears every other Tuesday on lawandstyle.ca