Steamed Salmon with Ginger and Garlic
At some point in my life salmon became a necessity. Less smoked salmon, although I love it on a bagel. More a nice, thick fillet of fish in that eponymous hue of health and happiness. We eat it regularly here. Most of the time it’s just thrown into the oven with oil, salt and pepper then finished with a squeeze of lemon at the table. Simple enough and I can feel smug about my health for at least one meal.
When you make a certain thing a lot though it is nice to switch it up and try something new. When we’re in the mood for salmon but want it to be more special than baked, this is the version we turn to. It’s also a reliable dinner party dish for a smaller group. Steaming, as a preparation technique, is generally reserved for the green vegetables we put in the microwave. In this case, it’s an unexpectedly great way to cook fish. Who knew?
We don’t have a specific pot insert that’s made for steaming so we’ve had to come up with a ramekin/plate/lid situation that does the job just fine. The keys to the set up are for the fish to lay on a reasonably flat surface and that you’re able to cover it tightly enough to trap the steam. In our wok, we put a large ramekin from a Charlie Bigham’s pie of long ago, flip it over and balance a dinner plate on it. Then we can use the lid from the wok. If you don’t have any of that available to you, here is an article with some ideas for how you can hack a steamer.
Once you’ve got your steaming set up figured out, it suddenly becomes easier to get more fish into your diet because the results are so good. Even when we add bacon to the fish. Which we do. Not every time but….well, almost every time. Life is about balance, after all.
