Asian style salmon

Normally in our house we don't eat a lot of salmon. Once I've had salmon a couple of times I get tired of it. It has quite a distinct flavor all by itself.  But for lent I figured I will try to eat other fish than our usual tilapia. So thats where the salmon came back in, and the cod and the halibut among others. 

This recipe came from my love of asian flavors and so I thought lets put in on the salmon since its such a strong flavored fish. It has black bean sauce, ginger, sesame oil and soy, all my favorite flavors and its blackened.

The recipe is fairly simple, you marinade the fish for at least 20 mins and fry in a nonstick pan. The non stick pan is important. To blacken the fish since it has the marinade on it it will stick to a normal pan in seconds. But with the nonstick you can keep it on longer at a higher heat and not risk having your fish fall apart when you try and flip it. I also served asparagus that I cut into smaller pieces and sautéed in the same pan that I took the fish out of, it still had some of the  marinade left in the pan. You can add a tiny bit more of the marinade to the asparagus and and a splash of water to help steam them. 

Ingredients for Marinade:

2 TB Black Bean Garlic Sauce / or dried black beans (found in the international part of grocer)

Grated Fresh Ginger (the size of your thumb)

2 Tb Sesame Oil

A glug of Soy Sauce

A glug of Olive Oil

Put all the ingredients together, I like to grate the ginger, since I think it helps to infuse the fish much more than if it was chopped, plus its easier to eat in grated form instead of in matchsticks. My husband hates ginger and this is one way that he doesn't have to chew it. Put your fish in a dish and coat all side of the fish with the marinade than pour most of it on the fish, remember to reserve some to put on your asparagus (a couple tablespoons should be plenty). 

After marinading for at least 20 minutes, heat up a pan and pour a bit of olive oil into it. Once the pan gets smoking hot place your fish into it and don't move it. Once the fish has achieved a nice crust on one side you can flip it. After I take the fish out I immediately put in the chopped asparagus and quickly saute it with the remaining marinade. You can add a splash of water to help the vegetable get tender, just not too much as it can turn soggy quickly.

Thats it, a quick meal that takes a little to marinade but under 10 minutes to the table. I served it with white rice but we have had it with wild rice or brown rice. Whatever you have in the pantry.

I hope to post more of my fish recipes throughout the lenten season, but in general I want to add more fish to our diet on an everyday level. hope you try this recipe and enjoy it.