by Lynn Bain •
Fusion, in cooking terms, is the combining of techniques and ingredients from different food cultures. In this recipe we take some favourite Asian soy sauces and add them to Japanese wheat noodles. Combined with a high omega-3 hero, salmon, we produce a tasty and healthy main course.
I would suggest that you use a glass bowl to mix the sauce ingredients. The lime juice in the sauce could react with a metal bowl and impart a metallic taste to the sauce.
You can use skin-on or skin-off salmon steaks in this recipe. My personal preference is for salmon steaks with the skin on. I love the texture and flavour of the cooked skin when combined with the Asian tastes. Please note that this isn’t a crispy skin recipe. Actually you can use your choice of any type of fish in this recipe; each variation offers a different taste.
Kecap manis is an Indonesian dark thick sweet soy sauce. You can make your own kecap manis by mixing together equal amounts of soy sauce and either brown sugar or molasses. You may also choose to add flavourings such as sliced garlic or ginger, dried chillies (or chilli flakes), star anise and curry leaves. Bring the mixture to a boil then simmer for about 10-15 minutes until the sugar is dissolved and the liquid is viscous.
Ingredients
180g udon noodles
2 tbsp Chinese black vinegar
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
2 green shallots, finely sliced
A handful of coriander leaves
2 tsp sesame oil
3/4 cup honey
3 tbsp kepak manis
3 tbsp soy sauce (salt reduced is fine)
2 cloves garlic, finely grated
1cm fresh ginger, finely grated
1 lime
4 salmon steaks
Step 1
Cook the noodles in plenty of boiling water. See the instructions on your packet of noodles for specific cooking times. While the noodles are cooking, place the chilli, green shallots, coriander and lime juice into a glass bowl.
Step 2
Tip the drained and cooked noodles into the bowl with the chilli mixture and pour in the Chinese black vinegar. Mix together thoroughly.
Step 3
Add the sesame oil, honey, kecap manis and soy sauce into a glass bowl and stir.
Step 4
Finely grate the garlic and ginger into the bowl. By grating over the bowl, you will get the grated ginger flesh and also any ginger juice released during the grating process.
Step 5
Zest the lime into the bowl then squeeze the lime juice into the mixture and mix together thoroughly.
Step 6
Pour the combined sauce into a non-stick frypan (these make washing up easier) and heat over a medium heat.
Step 7
Place the salmon steaks into the sauce, flesh side down, and cook. After a minute or so, turn the salmon steaks over. Cook the salmon on all sides to ensure that the steaks are covered in the sauce.
Step 8
When cooked, remove the salmon from the pan and drizzle with some of the sauce. To serve, place a sauce-coated salmon steak on an individual plate along with a generous serving of noodles.
Enjoy!
