Recipes

Smoked Apricot Salmon On A Soba Noodle Enoki

Ingredients

Salmon
• 4 pieces fresh salmon fillet @ 80 - 140 gram each (depending if you want to use it as a main course or appetizer)
• 100 gram apricot jam
• 15 gram shallots, fine chopped
• 15 gram ginger, minced fine
• 30 ml white wine vinegar
• 50 gram dried apricot, cut into very fine dice
• 30 ml white wine
• 15 ml sunflower seed oil

Noodle Salad
• 120 gram soba noodles, or more if you want to make a main course
• 50 gram enoki mushrooms, or more if you want to make a main course
• 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• 10 gram watercress
• 5 gram chives, chopped white
• black sesame seeds, toasted for garnish

Mirin ponzu dressing
• 25 ml mirin
• 15 ml ponzu
• 60 ml extra virgin olive oil
• freshly ground black pepper

Method

For the apricot marinade heat the oil over medium heat and sauté the shallots and ginger until the shallots are transparent but do not take colour. Add the apricot and sauté a bit more, deglaze with the vinegar and leave the vinegar to evaporate, then add the wine. Leave the wine to evaporate by half, then add the jam. Simmer slowly for about 10 - 15 minutes, then remove from the heat and leave to cool. If the mixture is too chunky for your liking, just place it in a food blender and make into a smooth paste. Use this mixture to spread evenly over the salmon about 2 hours before you use it.

For the salmon, clean, trim and marinate with the apricot marinade for two hours. If you have a smoker, cold smoke it for 5 minutes then remove. Bake at 180 degrees for about 5 minutes. If you have a stove top smoker, place salmon in it with wood shavings at the base and smoke for 3 minutes, then remove and finish by baking at 180° for about 5 minutes. The smoke taste should be subtle and not too dominant.

For the noodle salad, bring a pot of salted water to boil and quickly blanch the soba noodles in it. Don't overcook them, they only need a few minutes to cook. In a frying pan sauté the enoki mushrooms with a tablespoon of olive oil, without adding much colour to them. Combine with the noodles and add the mirin lime dressing as well as the chives and the watercress. Toss well. Serve the hot salmon on top of the cold salad. Sprinkle with sesame seeds for decoration.