THIS dish, which makes a brilliant starter, is my take on deconstructing sushi. It has the lovely clean flavours of sushi – salmon, wasabi, ginger, spring onions and so on – without the difficulty of all the wrapping. The result tastes like a very sophisticated dish, but with a bit of care it can be created very simply at home.
All the ingredients needed should be available from the supermarket. If you can't find micro greens or Thai asparagus, for example, use what you can get. You're after fresh, green flavours, so a little watercress would work well or thin British aspar
agus. But definitely buy the best salmon you can afford. The raw flesh should be firm and not too fatty. You want it pin-boned, the blood-line removed from the centre and to make sure each piece is exactly the same size.
You do need a thermoprobe-style thermometer for this recipe. I can't stress enough how useful these are for all kinds of meat and fish cooking. However, if you don't have one, or prefer your fish more well done, you can serve the salmon lightly poached, with a little salt on top.
Salmon confit with pickled ginger salad and wasabi crème fraîche
Serves fourFor the salmon
4 x 70g thick pieces of fresh salmon fillet, pin-boned and blood-line removed
table salt (enough to heavily coat the salmon)
duck fat or olive oil (enough to totally cover the salmon)For the salad
3 spring onions, sliced thinly at sharp angles
½ bulb fennel, sliced thinly
8 (approx) Thai asparagus spears (a very thin variety)
½ cucumber, de-seeded and sliced thinly at an angle
2 sticks celery, peeled and thinly sliced at an angle
15g Japanese pickled ginger
micro greens (to garnish)For the wasabi crème fraîche
100g good-quality crème fraîche
wasabi paste
pinch table salt
warm waterSprinkle the salmon heavily with the table salt and make sure it's totally coated. Leave for ten minutes, then carefully wash off the salt. Place the salmon on a dry cloth.
Bring the duck fat or olive oil up to 50°C (this is not very hot, so you will need to use a thermometer to prevent it overheating). At this point, place a small plate to sit flat on the bottom of the pan. Put the salmon into the duck fat, onto the plate, making sure it is totally covered with oil. Bring the fat back up to 50°C, as it will have cooled slightly when you added the fish. Remove the pan from the heat and leave the fish to cool for 15 to 20 minutes. After this time, check the core temperature of the fish. You want it at 36-38°C. When it has reached this core temperature, remove the fish from the fat and allow to cool. See Critical Points for more tips. Do not refrigerate – leave at room temperature.
For the salad, cut the asparagus into one-inch pieces, plunge it into boiling water for 20 seconds and then place into ice-cold water to stop it cooking further. Then allow it to cool.
When you are ready to serve, strain the asparagus and pat dry. Place all the ingredients except the micro greens into a bowl and mix together. Taste to see if salt and pepper are required, then serve alongside the salmon.
For the wasabi crème fraîche, place the crème fraîche into a bowl and beat until it loosens slightly. Add wasabi paste to taste and finish with a pinch of salt and a little water to thin down (if required). I like to sit the fish on some crème fraîche or even mayonnaise, then paint a strip of thinned-down wasabi crème fraîche onto the plate beside the salmon, using a pastry brush to get just a sensation of fiery heat. For this, the wasabi crème fraîche needs to be quite thin, so I add warm water and strain it to get rid of any graininess.
Critical pointsMake sure the salmon is covered in salt. When it's covered, use a timer for the ten minutes you need to leave it.
A thermoprobe-style thermometer is essential for the next part. When the oil hits 50°C, place a small plate at the bottom of the pan. This is a method I have devised from trial and error to prevent the salmon getting too hot on the base of the pan, which will be hotter than the 50°C oil inside it. The 50°C temperature is crucial, because any fraction higher and the flesh of the salmon will turn white. What we want is to retain that fantastic raw colour and clean flavour.
The next crucial stage is to remove the pan from the heat and wait until the core temperature of the salmon reaches 40°C. This will take a while, up to 20 minutes, but if it drops quickly to around 32°C, you will need to return the pan to the heat. You need to keep a vigilant watch and keep checking the temperature and the look of the fish at this stage.
