Blackened Salmon with flame roasted vegetable rice salad

Salmon marinated in dark soy sauce, wok oil and brown sugar, pan-fried with crispy skin. Served with a rice salad with flame roasted and crunchy fresh salad vegetables. Completed with a dressing made from soy, sugar, lime juice and coriander leaf.

A really healthy dish but one that is packed with flavour. It is also a great excuse to use my favourite kitchen gadget – my blowtorch. Dont worry if you don’t have one, simply dry roast the vegetables in a very hot oven for 5-7 minutes.

The salmon is marinated several hours ahead of cooking and is left with a black coating that caramelises when cooked in a hot pan. Cooking skin side down for most of the cooking to get the skin nice and crispy – after all nobody likes skin on a fish if it isn’t crispy.

Brown salad rice is cooked then cooled ready for the vegetables, half of which are roasted using the blowtorch for deep flavour and the rest are left raw to give the dish some nice crunchy texture.

The dish is completed with a dressing made from brown sugar, soy sauce, lime juice and coriander.

 

Serves two people

Preparation time 25 minutes (plus 1-2 hours to marinade), cooking time 15 minutes

Ingredients

For the salmon

2 Keta Salmon fillets – make 2-3 diagonal slices  in the skin to help skin crisp up

1 dessert spoon Dark soy sauce

1 dessert spoon wok oil

1 dessert spoon brown sugar

Marinade – the soy, oil and sugar in a bowl until combined. Add the salmon coating on both sides then place in fridge for 1-2 hours. Remove 30 minutes before cooking to bring back to room temperature.

For the rice salad

150g brown rice – cook, drain and cool

2 red onions – diced, add to pan for roasting

2 red bird eye chillies – add to pan for roasting

2 green bird eye chillies – add to pan for roasting

1 romano red pepper – add to pan for roasting

3-4 tbsp sweetcorn – add to pan for roasting

4 plum tomatoes – skin, deseed, chop, add to pan for roasting

10cm cucumber – peel, deseed, dice. Raw for crunch

1 small carrot – cut into fine batons. Raw for crunch

1 stick celery – dice, raw for crunch

3 spring onions – finely slice, raw for crunch.

Method: Retain the fresh vegetables in a bowl ready to add to rice. For the roasting vegetables add to a stainless steel pan and use a blowtorch to roast the vegetables until charred. Alternatively add vegetables to a dry baking tray and roast in a very hot oven for 5-7 minutes.

For the dressing

2 dessert spoons brown sugar

2 dessert spoons dark soy sauce

Juice of a lime

Handful coriander leaf – very finely chop, retain a little for garnish.

Method: Mix well in a bowl until combined. Give a second mix prior to serving.

 

Cooking instructions

1. For the salmon heat a dry non stick frying pan over a hot heat until very hot. Remove the salmon from the marinade and place skin side down in the pan and cook for 7 minutes. Turn the salmon and cook for 5 minutes on the other side then remove from the pan. These are typical times for average sized fillets, for large or small adjust time by a couple of minutes.
2. Assemble the rice salad. In a large mixing bowl add the rice, the roasted vegetables and the fresh vegetables. Pour in the salad dressing then mix well until fully combined.
3. Serve the dish by making a bed of rice salad then place the cooked salmon on top. Sprinkle a little finely chopped coriander on as a garnish.