Salmon with Hoisin Sauce

I am not a fish person.  Growing up on a beef farm in rural Ontario meant we didn’t eat a lot of fish.  On those rare occasions when my mom would serve us Captain Highliner’s Frozen Cod, it was met with little enthusiasm and a lot of resistance.   When we caught a bass or a pickerel from the lake, we would fry it with a lot of butter in an attempt to cover the fishy taste.

Upon moving to Vancouver, I quickly discovered this is the salmon capital of the world.  This mighty finned species is proudly displayed in First Nation’s artwork, it adorns city buildings and it appears on menus more often than chicken.  Not a big fan of the pink fish, I have found myself in several awkward situations, usually at friends’ dinner parties, when it is the main course.

It was at one friend’s home, who, wanting to welcome us to Vancouver, served this salmon dish.  It tasted amazing, and for the first time, I actually enjoyed every bite and even asked for seconds.  The secret to this recipe is the hoisin sauce’s sweet flavour; it complements the salmon’s strong taste. So if you’re not a fish lover, or if you are, this is a great one to make.

Serves 4

• 1-1/2 lbs salmon fillet  680 g

• ¼ cup hoisin sauce

• 1 clove garlic chopped finely

• 2 tsp sesame oil 

• 1 tbsp sherry vinegar

• 1 tbsp olive oil  

• 3 tbsp sesame seeds toasted

Rub the salmon with salt & pepper and store in the fridge 30 min – 4 hours.

Mix the hoisen, garlic, sesame oil and sherry vinegar together and smear 2 tbsp of the mixture over the salmon.  Refrigerate 4 to 8 hours.Wipe off all the mixture, pat dry and rub oil on the salmon.  Grill on a very clean grill on high – flesh side down for 3-4 minutes.  Turn salmon over and coat the flesh side with the rest of the mixture.  Grill 3-4 minutes.  It is important to not flip the salmon over more than once.

If you are a salmon fan, you might want to pick up Salmon Cookbook by Carol Ann Shipman, published by Hancock House Publishers.  It has some unique and very tasty recipes.

Cheers,

Julie

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 21st, 2007 at 8:00 am and is filed under Entertaining. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.