Hot and Sour Poached Salmon with Lemongrass and Chilli Noodles
Feeds 4 - 5
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Do you like spice? No? Too bad.
This dish thrives on chilies, but the good news is it's probably great for your sinuses and... bowel movements. Is it counterproductive to be talking about the toilet and digestion when i'm trying to get people to follow me and eat my food?
IT'S REALLY TASTY. PLEASE IGNORE ANY AND ALL TALK ABOUT BOWEL MOVEMENTS.
Back to business (lol); i made this dish 4 times before I was happy with it. I tested it so much that I turned into a chilli. It's spicy but delicate and delicious. It isn't over-filling but it tastes like a great mixture of spice and freshness.
These Vietnamese flavours go so beautifully together and also changes things up from my regular western-influenced dishes. I want to try and develop more asian recipes because I spent most of my life in South-East Asia, and let's be real, Asia knows food better than most. I've just never been great at actually cooking it - I never needed to, it was always right at my doorstep.
PRO TIPS
Regular chillies and birds eye chillies will provide very different spice levels. I highly recommend a mixture of the two after recipe testing with both. I thought there just wasn't enough spice without the birds eye chillies, so don't shy away from using the spicier chilli!
There were no bean sprouts in any of the grocery stores around me! Shocking! But you should give them a whirl in this dish. A large handful per bowl with the hot soup poured over the top is perfect.
Poaching chicken instead of salmon is just as good in this recipe! It'll probably need 8 minutes as chicken takes slightly longer to cook.
Try and get the all the elements on the go around the same time if you want to make this quick (you might get a bit frantic though, so only do this if you're confident in the kitchen).
Recipe
Ingredients
Salmon Marinade
3 tablespoons of soy sauce
3 tablespoons of rice vinegar
1 tablespoon of clear honey
4 salmon fillets, halved, skin-removed
Lemongrass and Chilli Noodles
1 lemongrass stalk (outer layer removed), finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 regular chillies or 1 birds-eye chilli, finely sliced
3 tablespoons of vegetable oil
250 grams of fine egg noodles
Hot and Sour Broth
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
4 shallots, diced
4 garlic cloves, crushed
2 lemongrass stalks (outer layer removed), finely chopped
2 - 3 birds eye chillies or 5 mild chillies, sliced
4cmx4cm piece of fresh ginger, grated
700mls of chicken or vegetable stock (or a mixture of the two)
1 tablespoon of honey
1 tablespoon of fish sauce
2 cups of sliced spring onion
1 cup of chopped peanuts
1 cup of coriander leaves
1 lime
Method
Start by creating the marinade for your salmon. Mix together all marinade ingredients except for the salmon. Put the marinade in a resealable ziplock bag. Put the halved salmon fillets in the bag and make sure the marinade coats all of the fillets. If the marinade isn't coating them add another tablespoon of soy sauce and rice vinegar - salmon can come in different sizes.
Place the bag in the fridge and leave for minimum 1 hour.
Next we are going to start the lemongrass and chilli oil for the noodles. Using a mortar and pestle (or some makeshift version) grind together the sliced chillies and garlic - seeds and all.
Heat up the vegetable oil on a very low heat in a small frying pan or pot. Throw in the lemongrass and leave, occasionally moving around, for 5 minutes. Add chilli and garlic paste for 15 minutes on the lowest heat (and smallest hob). You need to keep it on a low heat because you don't want anything to burn or char. After you've put the chilli and garlic in you can start on your hot and sour broth.
Using the mortar and pestle again, grind together the sliced chillies and garlic - seeds and all.
Add the vegetable oil to a pot on a medium heat. Once the oil is heat up add the shallots and sweat them for a minute. Throw in the garlic and chilli paste, lemongrass, and ginger - sauté for 2 minutes. Add the stock, a tablespoon of the marinade that the salmon has been in, and the honey. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
Place the salmon in the simmering stock for 5 - 7 minutes (depending on thickness) covered with a pot lid. Remove the salmon and set aside whilst you make your noodles. Keep the broth on the heat right up until you're ready to serve.
Boil a pot of hot water. Once boiling, put your dry noodles into the boiling water, making sure the water covers it. Once you have put the noodles in the water, immediately remove the pot from the heat. Leave the noodles for 3 - 4 minutes then drain the water.
Use a sieve to strain the oil into a bowl. Use another (or the same sieve) to strain the hot and sour broth into a separate bowl or jug.
Place the noodles in the lemongrass oil and toss. Put the noodles into separate bowls for serving. Put the salmon pieces on top of the noodles. Sprinkle over spring onions, coriander, and peanuts (don't be shy, the more the better). Pour the broth in to the bowls, serve, and enjoy!
Stay Salty,
Romy xx