My Teriyaki Salmon with Thai Sticky Rice and Chilli Lime Broccoli

Last night I made a fairly quick teriyaki salmon dish because we fancied something full of flavour but fairly light and I always look to Asian food for this! I served it with some sticky Thai rice which went with it very well, though you could use noodles or even egg fried rice if you'd prefer. And to keep it zingy, I lightly fried my broccoli in chilli and lime juice. The perfect late Friday night meal after a long week at work that involves minimal prep, only about 15mins in front on the hob and whole lot of satisfaction at the table (or on your knee in front of Alan Carr!)

Ingredients 

1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons clear honey
3 tablespoons dark soy sauce
1 garlic clove, chopped
a chunk of ginger, chopped (about double the size of your garlic clove)
2 salmon fillets

oil (I used olive as it's all I had in, but preferably a none flavoured oil)
a handful of tender stem broccoli
1/2 - 1 chilli (depending on taste), chopped finely
1 lime

thai sticky rice
fresh coriander to garnish



Firstly marinate your salmon buy mixing together the vinegar, honey and soy sauce in a shallow bowl. Add the garlic and ginger (and don't worry about chopping these super finely as we will be sieving them out later). Then put your salmon in the bowl and coat all over. Cover with some cling film and leave in the fridge for a couple of hours or until you are ready to cook!





When you're getting hungry, preheat the grill to about 180degrees and cook the rice according to packet instructions. If you're doing Thai sticky rice then I always aim to have it cooked about 10minutes before I'm ready to serve so you can leave it in the hot pan with the lid on to get really really sticky first!

Take out your bowl of salmon, and roll the salmon in the marinade again so that it is all covered. Take the fillets out and put onto a baking tray, saving the left over marinade for your sauce later. Put into the preheated grill for about 10-15minutes, checking regularly. You want to be able to put a knife into the thickest part of the fillet and it to slide a flake out very easily, but don't overdo it and dry out the salmon - as soon as it is no longer rubbery then take it out!



As the rice and salmon are cooking, get a pan of water on the hob and boil (or steam if you have a steamer!) the broccoli for about 5 minutes or until just tender. Drain and put to the side for a moment.

Give the broccoli pan a quick rinse and add the left over marinade to heat for a few minutes until it thickens slightly. Squeeze in the juice of half a lime, saving a couple of wedges to garnish if you'd like. Don't worry if it doesn't look like much sauce - there is so much flavour in this that you won't need a lot!






Add a splash of oil to a frying pan and add your chopped chilli. Fry for a couple of minutes then add the broccoli. Squeeze in the juice of the remaining half a lime, and you're ready to serve!


Line up the rice, salmon fillet and broccoli on a plate, making sure you sprinkle all of the chilli over from your broccoli pan! Sieve the sauce into a jug so that you remove the chunks of garlic and ginger, then drizzle the sauce over the whole dish. Sprinkle with fresh coriander and add the lime wedge if using.

A really tasty dish, full of fresh, zingy flavours with just the right amount of stickiness to feel indulgent!! Enjoy!

Kind of Thai Fishcakes

Just a quick recipe for you tonight that I made for me and my flatmate last night. We had a Thai inspired meal of fishcakes and stir-fried veg.

I'll be honest, it was my first time making these fishcakes and I completely made up the recipe so they still need a little bit of work, but I vowed to share my kitchen successes and failures on this blog so you're going to get it anyway!! Not that this was a failure - it was pretty nice, just not gobsmackingly beautiful - so why don't you play around with the recipe a little and you might find something more delicious than mine!



  
Serves 3 (us two and my dinner tonight!)

 

Ingredients

3 small portions of potato, peeled and chopped
1 stalk of lemongrass
your choice of stir fry veg, chopped - I used cabbage, pepper, broccoli and carrot
1 teaspoon sugar
splash of rice wine vinegar
3 fillets of white fish
3 teaspoons Thai Green curry paste (if you spend a little more on a better paste then this is more than enough because it'll be full of flavour, but if it's a cheapo one then you might need a little more!)
a handful of fresh coriander, chopped
1 red chilli, finely chopped
sea salt and black pepper
1/2 lime, squeezed
 olive oil 
1 small egg
plain flour
a drizzle of soy sauce
sweet chilli sauce (to serve)

Begin by getting a pan of water boiling on the hob. Slightly squash your lemon grass with the flat of your knife to release the flavours, then add to the pan whole (or in half if too long!). My intention here is to flavour the water - and subsequently the potato - with these gorgeous citrus flavours without them overpowering the fishcake.


Prepare all of your stir-fry veg and put in a bowl. Mix in the sugar and rice wine vinegar and leave to one side for later.

Then, spread the green curry paste over your fish fillets. Place them on a baking tray and wrap loosely with silver foil. This needs to go in a preheated oven until just cooked and flaky (probably at about 180 degrees for around 10-20mins depending on the size of your fillets).
  
Add your chopped potato to the pan of water and boil until soft (about 10mins).


Once the fish is cooked, remove from the oven and flake into a large bowl. Add the chilli, coriander and lime juice, and season with salt and pepper.

Once soft, drain the potatoes and remove the lemongrass stalk. Add a drizzle of olive oil and mash. Then add the potato to your fish bowl, mixing together.


Sprinkle your flour onto a flat surface. When the ingredients in your bowl are cool enough to touch, crack your egg into the bowl and combine with your hands. Collect a small handful into a ball and squash between the palms of your hands to make a fishcake shape. Lightly dip both sides into the flour and put on a plate ready to fry. Repeat until you have created all of your fishcakes.







Add a drop of olive oil into a pan (I used a griddle pan) and pop your fishcakes in. Cook for a couple of minutes on each side.

For your veg, simply add it to a wok with a dash of olive oil and soy sauce. Cook for a couple of minutes until the veg is starting to soften, but still with some crunch!



Serve up and enjoy with some sweet chilli sauce!

Cooking for a Friend

Hoisin and Garlic Pork Medallions with Feta and Coriander Stuffed Sweet Potato

My friend came for dinner last night and I created a bit of a concoction, borrowing from a couple of different recipes. Everyone had been chatting about pork at work, so that was my starting point - pork medallions from the Tesco Finest range (on offer obviously!) My sauce was actually inspired by the recipe on the back of the pork pack, and adapted to use ingredients I already had. The sweet potato recipe is a variation of one of my absolute favorites from Jamie's 30minute meals - he mashes sweet potato and normal potato with feta, chilli and coriander (and it's delicious!). My friend isn't keen on chilli so I ditched this part and decided to bake the sweet potatoes as a change. It all took me less than half an hour, and received great reviews from my friend!

Ingredients

Pork Medallions
Hoisin and Garlic Sauce (I used ready-made because I already had some, but would be nicer homemade!)
Dark Soy Sauce
Garlic (fine chopped)
Ginger (grated or fine chopped)
Spring Onions (rough chopped)
Sweet Potatoes
Feta Cheese
Coriander
Veggies (carrots and broccoli for me!)

Recipe

Put the sweet potatoes on a baking tray into a preheated oven (about 180degrees).  They need about 20-30mins depending on the size of the potato.

Sear the pork in a hot pan for a couple of minutes each side, then put to one side.

Get a pan of water boiling for your veg.

Mix the hoisin and garlic sauce with a few dashes of soy sauce in a bowl. Fry the garlic and ginger in a drop of olive oil until just turning golden, then add the sauce.





Put the pork into the pan with the sauce and keep the heat on fairly low to cook through for 5-10mins.

Put the veg in your boiling water, or better steam it if you've got the right utensils (which I don't unfortunately!)

Take the potatoes out of the oven and cut in half. Cut slices through the inside of the potato, not cutting through the skin.



 Chop the feta and coriander together to mix all the flavours.

Then use your knife to push the mixture into the gaps you've just cut into the sweet potatoes. Pop back in the oven for a few minutes.

Then voila! Dish up, sprinkle the spring onion on top of the meat...

Eat!