Asian Style Salmon dip

Asian Style Salmon dip

I love fish and I can eat fish anytime. In Southeast Asia the Mekong River is full of  fresh water fish and the meat is sweet. I love fresh water fish, but here in Seattle no  fresh water  around to fish,  Seafood is all I have through out the year, so I have to be creative to cook Salmon. You can cook as much as you like for this recipe all you have to do is bake the fish and get all the fresh herbs and fresh lettuce to wrap with the fish.

To bake Salmon don’t bake it with salt or pepper like what we do in Asia, but  bake it with butter and brown sugar this will help the flavor of Salmon.  I often bake it in a foil so all the juice stay.

You need
1/2 of clean fresh Salmon wrap in foil with few sliced of butter and 2 to 3 T of brown sugar (wrap and bake for 25 to 30 minutes at 350 degree or grill outside will work well) don’t over bake the fish, keep the fish warm until serve.

For the vegetables platter you need
Any kind of lettuce you like or water crests
Lot of herbs like mints, Vietnamese mints, Thai basil, cilantro ect…
Fresh cucumber sliced
Fresh bean sprouts and so on…whatever you like to wrap with the fish.

For the dressing there is 2 kind of dressing for this fish salad, you can use tamarind dressing or lime dressing like what the Vietnamese did for the chicken salad.

For the Tamarind Dressing (do adjust the flavor to your taste)

1/2 cup of sugar (more or less up to you)
1/2 cup of fish sauce use 3 crabs fish sauce is best
1/2 cup of boiling water (let it cool before you mix it)
3 cloves of minced garlic
2 shallots thinly sliced
1/4 cup of tamarind concentrate (do adjust to your test of sourness)
3 Thai chilies minced
Mix everything together in  a bowl, taste and adjust the flavor. Set aside

1 T Fried shallots add to the dressing before serving
1 T Roasted peanut add to the dressing before serving

For lime dressing
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of boiling water
1/2 cup of fish sauce
2 limes juice adjust the sourness to your liking.
3 Thai Chilies more or less up to you.
3 cloves of minced garlic

Mix everything together in a bowl,  adjust the flavor (most dressing will taste better after few hours)

When ready to serve arrange all the lettuce, herbs, and cucumber on a serving platter.
Wrap cooked Salmon with lettuce, herbs, and cucumber dip in the dressing and enjoy! Southeast Asian serve this recipe with cooked rice.
Make sure you add fried shallots and Roasted Peanut to the dressing

Enjoy!