Miso Poached Salmon + Cucumber Salad Bowls
Poaching fish, chicken, etc. had always weirdly intimidated me. Plus, it sort of always sounded unappealing…I associated it with old-school recipes with little-to-no flavor. Spoiler alert: I was wrong!
Fast forward to cooking school, we were poaching things left and right and we learned that it’s such an easy way to gently cook something while also imparting tons of flavor.
What I love about poaching is that you can customize your base with different aromatics and make it your own. Don’t really like spice? Leave out the jalapeno! Prefer a deeper umami flavor? Add a couple dashes of fish sauce! The possibilities really are endless.
If you have leftovers, store the salmon in a container with the poaching liquid and remove it when you reheat! I definitely ate leftovers for lunch at work throughout the week (I ended up adding avocado to the bowl for my lunches…highly recommend!).
I hope you like this recipe as much as I do!
INGREDIENTS
For the Salmon:
4 4-ounce salmon filets
1 2-inch piece of ginger
1 stalk lemongrass
2 cloves garlic
1/2 jalapeno or serrano chili
2 cups vegetable stock
1/4 cup mirin
1/3 cup white miso paste
Water
Salt
For the Cucumbers:
8 Persian cucumbers
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 1/2 tsp sugar
1.5 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tsp fish sauce
2 tsp toasted sesame oil
2 tsp soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp pepper flakes (I use ½ tsp red pepper flakes + ½ tsp marash chili)
1 Tbsp grapeseed oil
For Plating:
Rice (or a bed of greens if you’re staying away from rice!)
Black + white sesame seeds
Pickled Ginger
Pea Shoots
Sliced Scallions
METHOD
For the Cucumber Salad:
Prep the cucumbers. Cut the cucumbers in half lengthwise and then cut each piece in half so they are about 2 inches in size. With the cut side down on the board, smash the pieces of cucumber using the side of your knife. This provides a nice texture + more crevices for the dressing to permeate.
Drain the cucumbers. Place the cucumbers in a sieve or strainer over a bowl and toss with 1/2 tsp each of kosher salt and sugar. Weigh the cucumbers down with a can (or something heavy) and allow them to drain of their excess water for about 20-30 minutes.
Make the dressing. Whisk together the remaining 2 tsp sugar and 1 tsp salt with the rice wine vinegar and fish sauce until the sugar + salt have dissolved. Whisk in the toasted sesame oil and soy sauce.
Assemble. Pat the cucumbers dry and add to a large bowl. Pour the dressing over the cucumbers along with the minced garlic, pepper flakes and grapeseed oil. Stir to combine.
For the Salmon:
Season the salmon. Salt the salmon on all sides at least 30 mins ahead of time. The salt will permeate into the flesh of the fish and season it really nicely. If you season it right before you add it to the liquid, the salt with just come off of the salmon and into the broth.
Prep the aromatics. Cut the piece of ginger in half and smash them with the side of your knife. Hack up the lemongrass stalk by banging the top/dull edge of your knife over it until it begins to open up. Smash the garlic cloves with the side of your knife.
Make the poaching liquid. In a pot or dutch oven, add the ginger, lemongrass, garlic cloves and chili along with the vegetable stock, mirin, miso, 1 1/2 cups water and a big pinch of salt. Whisk the mixture to break up the miso paste and bring the mixture up to a simmer over medium-high heat with the lid on. Once the poaching liquid has reached a simmer, turn the heat down to low. Allow to gently simmer, covered, for 15-20 mins.
Poach the salmon. Add the seasoned salmon to the warm poaching liquid, making sure your heat is low. You don’t want to aggressively simmer/boil the salmon or the protein will seize up and you’ll end up with a tough end product. If the liquid isn’t covering the salmon completely, add enough water to cover it. Cover with the lid and allow the salmon to poach for 8-10 minutes, depending on how thick your fish is.
To Assemble:
Add a big spoonful of rice (or a bed of greens) in your bowl and top with the salmon. Add the cucumber salad on the side.
Sprinkle the salmon with sesame seed.
Top the whole thing with sliced scallion, pea shoots and pickled ginger. I also like to spoon the cucumber marinade over everything!
NOTES
Poaching Aromatics: The idea is to release the flavor of the aromatics so they will permeate into the broth. No need to remove the skin on the ginger or garlic since we’re not eating the broth – it’s just flavoring the salmon.
Salmon: I like to use skin-on salmon for this dish. It helps keep the salmon in tact when you remove it from the poaching liquid and you just remove the skin after you cook it. You can definitely use skinless if you prefer that!