spicy salmon

Spicy Salmon

Paleo means meat! We all have images of meat and vegetables on this sort of eating regime and there is nothing wrong with that. But don’t forget fish. There are some great paleo recipes that don’t involve meat at all. In fact, some people who don’t eat meat at all thrive on paleo because they take advantage of the variety of seafood that you can enjoy. Here is a fantastic Spicy Salmon recipe that will help you enjoy fish on paleo.

Spicy Marinated Salmon

Salmon is one of my favourite types of fish. If you can source high-quality, fresh salmon (not from farm fishing) the taste is absolutely fantastic. You do need to be a bit careful when cooking it because it is easy to overcook. This is a shame because it loses a lot of flavour and becomes very dry. The key is to sear the outside over a high heat and leave the inside moist and succulent.

Salmon combines well with lots of different tastes. I like to liven it up with something spicy and marinading it is a great way to do this.

If you are not used to marinading food, one thing to be aware of is the difference in taste between cooked and uncooked food. For example, spices (particularly hot ones) only really take on their flavour after cooking. This means that it is easy to add too much of something because the taste doesn’t seem that strong. After cooking we realise that it is perhaps far hotter thn we planned! It might take an attempt or two before you get the right balance for your palate.

Ingredients

One Thumbnail Sized Piece of Fresh Ginger

1 Tablespoon of Soy Sauce

1 Tablespoon of Sesame Oil

1 Teaspoon Asian Fish Sauce

A Few Generous Slugs of Quality Olive Oil

Zest of One Untreated Organic Lime

Salt and Pepper to Taste

One Teaspoon of Thai Green Curry Paste

2 Filets of Salmon

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Grate the fresh ginger into the other ingredients once they are mixed. If you haven’t got fresh ginger, you can used dried ginger, but the flavour isn’t going to b quite the same.Don’t worry if the mixture isn’t completely even-this is one of the joys of a marinade. The flavours aren’t completely evenly spread. Before placing the salmon into the marinade, score lines about one quarter inch deep across the surface. Massage the marinade into the fish being careful not to break the filet.

Many people suggest leaving the marinade in the fridge, but I find that this makes things taste somewhat bland.

Leave the fish for at least an hour. I personally like to leave it for an hour, then massage the fish with the mixture again before leaving it for another half hour or so to really let the different spices do their job.

When you are ready to cook the fish, heat the pan very hot with a small quantity of oil. I use either olive oil that has a high smoke point or sesame seed oil. Although something like coconut oil is my usual choice for cooking , the flavour doesn’t always suit this recipe and can hide some of the other spices.

Place the fish in the pan and cook for between one and two minutes, pushing gently but firmly on top. Turn the filet over and do the same on the other side. As mentioned before, salmon cooks quickly and you want to seal the flavours in, not cook all the taste out.

You can accompany this recipe with all sorts of things. I prefer to have something simple like chargrilled vegetables (onions, courgettess and carrots are good). This won’t take away from the taste of the fish and provides a nice contrast in texture.

You can obviously do this with any sort of fish although it is best to avoid anything too fragile because it will break up either whilst being marinated or in cooking. This is true of lots of white fish for example. This does work great with both prawns and squid as well as with tuna steaks if you prefer a meatier type of fish. Enjoy!

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top