Spring is coming and I am planning for the lovely treats of the season: peas, spring onions, asparagus and maybe a few Fava beans (so worth the extra work). This salmon recipe is tasty and easy-peasy. I serve it with the noodle salad tocompliment the soy glaze.
Soba noodles are made from (usually) gluten-free buckwheat, have a nice nutty flavor, and can be found in the Asian section of most well-stocked grocery stores.
We recommend fresh wild Alaskan Salmon, available in the spring. And when buying seafood, we encourage you to consult a sustainability guide like the phone app Seafood Watch from the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
Recipe
Orange Soy Glazed Salmon with Spring Soba Salad
INGREDIENTS
- 4 salmon fillets, 4-6 oz each
- 1 tbsp neutral oil
- All the zest from 1 orange
- 1 tbsp orange juice
- 1 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce or tamari
- 4 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 clove of garlic, smashed to a paste
- 1 9 oz package of dried soba noodles (hakubaku)
- 3 oz Edamame beans, cooked and shelled from pods
- 4 oz sugar snap peas, sliced on a diagonal, 1½” pieces
- ⅓ cup thinly sliced or julienned carrots
- 2 scallions, whites and greens thinly sliced
- 1 9 oz package of dried soba noodles (hakubaku)
- 3 oz Edamame beans, cooked and shelled from pods
- 4 oz sugar snap peas, sliced on a diagonal, 1½” pieces
- ⅓ cup thinly sliced or julienned carrots
- 2 scallions, whites and greens thinly sliced
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat the broiler of your oven on high. Dry off the salmon with a paper towel and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Prepare the soba noodles according to the directions on the package. Drain the noodles and rinse under cold water. Then toss with a tablespoon of sesame oil to keep them from sticking together. Add edamame, snap peas, carrots and onions to the noodles.
- Make the dressing in a small bowl, stirring together soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil and red pepper flakes (to your taste). Set dressing aside until right before you serve.
- In a small bowl stir together orange juice, zest, garlic, soy sauce and sugar to make a paste.
- On the stovetop, heat a heavy, ovenproof pan on medium-high. Add neutral oil and then sear the salmon, skin side down for 2 minutes. Flip the fish skin side down and slather the soy paste on top and slip the pan in the oven, on a shelf in the upper quarter of the oven and broil about 5 minutes. The fish will be cooked, and the glaze will be bubbly. Let cool for a couple of minutes and you can carefully slide the fish off its skin.
- Right before serving, toss noodles with dressing to taste. Lay down a quarter of the noodle salad and top with a fillet of salmon.