Asparagus Salmon Fried Rice #BloggerCLUE

Crunchy asparagus just barely tossed in the hot pan with garlic and onions and chilies keep the fresh taste of spring, complemented by the tender poached salmon in this delightful, and delightfully easy, fried rice.

I’ve been making fried rice for a very, very long time. In fact, it’s such a common occurrence that I’ve never even considered posting a recipe on here. Fried rice has the advantage of being quick and easy, with the fabulous capacity to turn leftovers into something new and special. I never measure or quantify. It all just goes in. Roast chicken, grilled steak, boiled shrimp, pan-fried pork chops and myriad vegetables, sure. They’ve all become fried rice at my hands. But in all my years of making this dish, I have never once thought to use salmon. And that is why I love taking part in Blogger C.L.U.E. each month.

Blogger C.L.U.E. is a fun challenge where each participating blogger is given an assignment, another blog to poke around in and find recipes that fit our “clue” or theme of the month. I’ve been taking part for several months now and each time, I learn something new and my world opens just that much wider with possibilities.

This month my assigned blog is Lemon & Anchovies and I was hunting through Jean’s beautiful pages for spring vegetable recipes. And you know what I found! What is more quintessentially springy than asparagus? I am showing all of my 52 years now (I’m among friends, right?) but I remember a time when the only asparagus I’d ever eaten came from a can. Even as I got older and learned of fresh asparagus, the season was so short that folks waited all year for the first spears to appear and they were something special. When my husband and I first met, he had three things he would not eat: beets, olives and asparagus. Turns out he had never had a fresh asparagus either! He is now a fan of both olives and asparagus – Never mind about the beets. One has to choose one’s battles. – and he loved this fried rice, even taking the leftovers for two days running for his lunch.

I made very few changes to Jean’s recipe only doubling most of the ingredients so we’d have leftovers and putting fresh chilies instead of sauce but I’d like to encourage you to head over to her blog to read the post where I found this recipe. Her stunning photographs and glorious description of a daytrip to the coast will put you right there with her and give you pleasant dreams of days on the beach. And while you are there, have a poke about yourself. Jean cooks beautiful food and loves to travel. Her lovely crab, asparagus and avocado omelet post will also treat you photos from a trip to Maui  and a bacon and leek quiche also means a gorgeous recap of her two weeks of summer on the south coast of France.   Amongst others. Seriously, do go see. If you are anything like me, you’ll get trip envy bad. And want to cook all the things.


Ingredients
1 1/4 lbs or 585g salmon fillets
250g asparagus
6 1/2 cups or about 900g cooked long grained Basmati rice, cooled (Day old from the refrigerator is best.)
3 eggs
2-3 shallots
4 cloves garlic
2­3 tablespoons olive oil
2-3 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
3 red chili peppers
2-3 tablespoons light soy sauce 
2-3 tablespoons soy sauce, plus more for serving, if desired

For serving and garnish:
Lime wedges
Fresh chives

Method
Poach your salmon in a medium-sized covered saucepan, in simmering water that comes just half way up the fillets, turning the fish halfway through. You want the fish just barely cooked through so, depending on the thickness of your fillets, about 10-15 minutes ought to do it. Take it off the heat but leave the salmon in the poaching liquid until you are ready to use it.

Cut the hard ends off of your asparagus and pop them into a glass with some cool water, just as you would cut flowers.

Beat your eggs and drizzle a little olive oil into a non-stick skillet. Pour the eggs in and cook over a low heat, turning once when almost cooked through.

When the omelet is cool enough to handle, roll it up and slice it thinly. Set aside.

Slice your shallots finely, mince your garlic and red chilies. Cut your asparagus into shorter lengths.

In a pan or wok that is big enough to hold all of your ingredients eventually, drizzle in the oils and add in the shallots and chilies. Cook for just a minute or two.

Add in the asparagus and cook, stirring frequently, for just a few more minutes. You want the asparagus to stay nice and crunchy.

Add in the garlic and cook for about a minute, making sure not to let the garlic color.

Add in the cold rice and stir well. Drizzle on the soy sauces and stir again, so that the soy is well mixed with all the rice.

It will take a few minutes to get all of that rice hot, so take the time now to use a fork to break the salmon into fairly large pieces. Remember that it will fall apart a bit more as you stir.

Add in the salmon and fold it into the hot rice.

Now add the egg ribbons and do the same, cooking just until the salmon and egg are both hot.

Garnish with chopped green onion and serve with lime and extra soy sauce, if desired.

Enjoy!

Here’s a list of this month’s Hunt for Spring Vegetables Blogger C.L.U.E. participants. I’ll be updating the list with their chosen recipes as the day progresses.

• Asian Fried Quinoa by Kate from Kate's Kitchen
• Asparagus and Prosciutto Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette by Heather from girlichef
• Asparagus Quiche by Alice from A Mama, Baby and Shar-pei in the Kitchen
• Asparagus Salmon Fried Rice by Stacy from Food Lust People Love
• Blue Cheese and Bacon Potato Salad by Christiane from Taking on Magazines
• Blue Cheese Potato Salad by Lea Ann from Cooking on the Ranch
• Broccoli and Cheese Muffins by Kelli from Kelli's Kitchen
• Broccoli Cheddar Soup by Azmina from Lawyer Loves Lunch
• Caesar Salad with Grilled Romaine by Jean from Lemons and Anchovies
• Cheese Soufflé with Garden Salad by Debra from Eliot's Eats
• Chicken Tikka Salad by Ramona from Curry and Comfort
• Chocolate Strawberry Pound Cake by Kim from Liv Life
• Cowboy Vegetable Scramble by Kathy from A Spoonful of Thyme
• Creamy Asparagus Soup by Anna from Anna Dishes
• Fresh Basil Pesto by Christy from Confessions of a Culinary Diva
• Halibut and Spinach en Papillote by Liz from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Honey Balsamic Glazed Carrots by Rebekah from Making Miracles
• Lemon Bars by Anna from Anna Dishes
• Maple Soy Glazed Spring Carrots by Lora from Cake Duchess
• Peppercress and Basil Pesto by Lisa from Authentic Suburban Gourmet
• Raspberry and Rhubarb Rustic Tarts by Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Spring Green Risotto by Lauren from Sew You Think You Can Cook

Poached Salmon with Creamy Caper Onion Sauce

Whenever I get home from a holiday, I reminisce by looking through my photos and remembering all the people I’ve met or visited with and all the places I’ve been.  I also reminisce about the meals I have eaten.  I’m going back through my summer photos of food because there are so many dinners and salads and desserts that got made, photographed and eaten with relish, but never got posted.  I am not even home yet and I am already feeling nostalgic for wild salmon, which I have yet to find in Cairo.

Wild salmon is much drier than its farm-raised brethren so poaching is an excellent method of cooking it.   Add on a creamy caper onion sauce and you can’t go wrong.   I cooked this, along with a cherry tomato tart, for my in-laws and it was very well received.  My father-in-law has been ill and had not been eating very well for a couple of weeks when I served this and he cleaned his plate!  We were all very excited.  Seriously.  To the point that we took a photo of his empty plate.  Looking back now, that seems weird, but it felt right at the time.  Any small victory!

Poached Salmon and Tomato Sauce with Pasta

I have an unusual piece of salmon.  Perhaps unusual is not a fair description because every salmon has a tail.  It’s just not the customary piece people buy and cook.  I ended up with this lovely shiny tail when I bought a whole frozen salmon from the frozen butcher.  By which I mean he sells mostly frozen products, not that he is made of ice. 

The nice guys in the white rubber aprons cut my whole fish apart into steaks with an exposed electric saw that made me shudder for their fingers.  And then they popped all the pieces in a plastic bag, which I put in my freezer.  Gradually we have eaten all the proper pieces, that is to say, the steaks and now I am left with just the tail.  It seems to have a lot of meat so I decided to poach it, debone it and use the meat and poaching liquid to make a sauce for pasta. 

Here goes.

Ingredients

1 piece of salmon tail – a little more than 1 pound or half a kilo of fish.  Substitutions encouraged.

8 garlic cloves

1 can (425g or 15oz) whole or crushed tomatoes

1/2 cup dry white wine

6 springs of fresh thyme (4 for poaching liquid, 2 to serve)

1/2 teaspoon sugar

Sea salt

Black pepper

Olive oil

250g or 8 oz pasta

Method

Chop the garlic up and the sauté it with a little olive oil in a relatively deep saucepan.

Add in the can of tomatoes and, if they are whole, break them up with the spoon.

Add in the white wine and the 1/2 teaspoon of sugar and bring to a boil.

Meanwhile, season your fish tail with sea salt and several grinds of fresh black pepper.

Let the poaching liquid boil for just a few minutes then turn it down to simmer.

Add the salmon tail and enough water to bring the level up to at least cover half of it.

Add in four of the sprigs of thyme and cover the pan.  Set your timer for 25 minutes. 

Halfway through, turn the salmon over.  

When the timer dings, remove the salmon from the poaching liquid and leave it to cool.

Turn the heat under the poaching liquid back up and let it boil along merrily until reduced by half.

Meanwhile, put your pot of salted water on to boil for the pasta.  Cook your pasta of choice according to package instructions.  Drain and keep warm. 

When the fish is cool enough to handle, peel the skin off with a knife and your fingers.  Remove the meat from the top half of the tail.  Remove the spine bones.

Turn that baby over and remove the skin from the bottom half.

Break the fish up into bite-sized pieces.   Chop the reserved thyme into little pieces.

When the poaching liquid is thickened enough, remove the old pieces of thyme.

Depending on your pot, add the pasta to the sauce or the sauce to the pasta.  Add in the salmon and the fresh thyme.

Gently stir or give it a toss to mix through.

Enjoy!  This will feed at least three, possibly four, hungry people.