Ahh Saturday.... College football, couch time, and nothing to worry about except for the dinner menu. Usually stuck with a choice of beef, pork or chicken, this Saturday was different. Salmon... it's whats for dinner!Fresh off a trip West to the salmon fishing hotbed of the Columbia river below Bonneville Dam. Like a younger version of myself in the wee hours of Christmas morning and in spite of my gut instincts yearning to open the Ziploc wrapped gift, I was forced to wait, and wait... and wait to allow the meat a week in the freezer to reach its peak of flavor. Finally it was time to share with friends and family the fruits of my labor, if you could call it labor.
King Salmon is regarded by most as the most delicious of all waterborne bounties. Go to a grocery store or google "wild caught king salmon" and you can expect to find prices upwards of $30.00 per pound, with good reason. The meat is rich in Omega-3's and has the delicious fresh taste to warrant the sky high prices.
So with nearly 20 pounds of the pink gold in my freezer I was in cullinary overload. I mean... I have a recipe or two, but what do I do with the other 15 pounds? Give it away? Uhh... No way. I am in touch with my philanthropic side, but handing out fresh caught pacific salmon is heresy.
After asking around on Facebook, Twitter, and polling my west coast fishing friends, considered experts in salmon preparation, I landed on a mouth watering Polynesian inspired recipe, shared with us, on Facebook, by Joe Maloney:
"Teriyaki marinade for about 2 hours then grill meat side down, flip and grill the skin side till medium rare. peel the skin and scrape the fatty parts off (gets rid of the strong "fishy" flavor), and serve over coconut rice"
WHAT YOULL NEED:
- About 1lb. Salmon Fillet per person
- Instant white rice
- Teriyaki sauce or other mainade
- One flat baking sheet
- Non-stick cooking spray
-1 can coconut milk
2.) Once you have a thawed, manageable hunk of salmon ready for marination, toss it an a clean plastic bag and pour your marinade of choice in with the meat. Suck out the excess air so the marinade envelops the whole fillet and toss the bag in the fridge.
3.) Grab a cream soda, find a seat on the couch, and flip on your choice of sporting event while the marinade does its work. There's no such thing as marinating too long, but two hours is about the minimum.
4.) Generously coat a cookie sheet with cooking spray to keep the marinade from permanently bonding your meat to the pan.
6.) Finally set your broiler to high and give it a few minutes to warm up before placing the fillet, meat side down, in the oven for about five minutes. Flip and allow it to cook for five minutes on the other side to finish the meat. Serve over the coconut rice, and enjoy!
Got any good fishin' stories? Share them below in the comments section, or if you want to be featured in the next post, or just want to talk fishing... Email me!
-mc
Good recipe. I love teriyaki salmon, but I do this a little differently. I would separate the skin from the meat while marinating so none of the fish slime flavor permeates the meat and ruins the teriyaki flavor. Sometimes I slice the fillet into little cubes while marinating as well, and put it into a little foil packet on the barbecue. So good. I also only use Yoshida's marinade if I am going the store-bought route...it is by far the BEST teriyaki sauce I have ever had. Good idea with the coconut though!
ReplyDeleteThanks Kyle! I actually have another batch in the fridge right now getting ready to go on the grill, but next go around I'll definitely give that a shot. That sounds like a good idea.
ReplyDelete-mc