BRAISED AND GLAZED UMAMI SALMON
The soy sauce, mushrooms and a touch of dashi in the greens is an umami trifecta here. Cutting the fish into thick “fingers” makes for easier flipping in the skillet. Serves 2-3.
RECIPE: Braised and Glazed Umami Salmon and Lion’s Mane Mushrooms on a Bed of Asian-American Greens
Ingredients
2 tablespoons each: light or regular brown sugar, sake or apple juice, mirin, and aged soy sauce (for a less sweet glaze, use only 1 tablespoon brown sugar)
1 box or equivalent mixed “sweet” and “peppery” greens (such as arugula and baby spinach, for example)
5 ounces washed, stemmed and torn leaves of domestic mustard, collard or mustard greens, or any combination of the same
2 tablespoons dashi or 1 teaspoon miso paste dissolved in 2 tablespoons water
1 clove garlic, mashed into a paste or finely grated (optional)
1 tablespoon neutral vegetable oil
1 pound salmon filet, skin-on, cut into portions no wider than 2-inches across
200 grams (about 1 package) lion’s mane mushrooms, shredded (do not cut up) into strips both short and medium-length
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
Garnish of hot red pepper flakes (optional)
Directions
Make the sauce: Stir the sugar, sake or apple juice, mirin and shoyu until the sugar is dissolved. Set the sauce aside.
Cook the greens: In a large bowl, toss together the two sets of greens. Steam or sauté them just enough to cook them through, as little as 1 minute, up to 2 minutes, using the optional garlic if desired. Remove from the heat and shock in a large bowl of iced water. After a few minutes, remove any ice, drain, squeeze lightly, return to the bowl and toss with the dashi or miso water. Set aside in a warm place.
Prepare the fish and mushrooms: In a large nonstick skillet set over medium heat, film the skillet with the oil, then place the salmon pieces skin-side down and sear them for 4-5 minutes, until the skin is uniformly lightly browned. Flip the salmon pieces over and sear on the non-skin side for an additional 2 minutes. Remove the salmon to a warmed plate and proceed.
Add the shredded mushrooms to the skillet and brown them lightly, stirring, 90 seconds. Add the butter, let it melt and then cook the mushrooms in it for 90 seconds, stirring. Add back to the skillet the salmon “fingers.” Pour the sauce around the skillet and cook the mushrooms and fish, flipping the fish to coat all its sides with the sauce and stirring the sauce into the mushrooms.
The sauce will thicken and begin the glaze the contents of the skillet. Time to eat.
Serve the salmon and mushrooms on a bed of the greens on warmed plates. Garnish with the red pepper flakes if desired.
Wine Pairings and why: The greens, combined with the high umami and glutamate in this dish (miso, soy, dashi, mushrooms, the salmon itself), make for many layers of flavor and texture, but they also search for a certain sort of wine. They won’t be happy with a heavy tannic red, but with something sleeker and tangier. Many whites, reds, rosés, even sparklers all work well, but only those that can brag about both a fair amount of acidity as well as a moderate level of alcohol. Stay away from monotonic fruit bombs here, but soft reds with nuance, built-up flavors and long, beckoning aftertastes. Perhaps most crucial, however, is a crispness (acidity) that fences in all that. Try any number of dry rosés, especially Rosé Champagne or Rosé Sparkling Wine (even one slightly off-dry), a Müller-Thurgau from Germany (again, off-dry would work), or, as nearly always is the case with salmon, Pinot Noir from most places around the globe.