Woke up with this ache in me to eat the kind of salmon we had for breakfast each day during our trip to Japan, a few months ago, a strong urge to have it at any cost, just the way it was served. No amount of reasoning suffices, when you have that kind of hunger pang for one particular dish, which I will remember Japan with, for the rest of my life.
It was served with love each day and always tasted right, during our entire stay there. Somehow through sign language and a google translator, I had managed to ask the chief chef what that particular preparation of fish was called, coz I had never tasted anything like that before, so fresh and so tasty. He was very happy to enlighten me and did so with so much pride for the culinary treats of his land. He said, it was a very traditional breakfast item in the menu and was called Shioyaki (charcoal grilled fish which is seasoned with salt, Miso- zuke (features salmon that has been marinated in miso (fermented bean paste) and then grilled. The umami flavor of the miso combines with the healthy fats of the salmon for an incredibly flavorful dish),Himono, or dried fish, is another traditional culinary staple of Japan, Sakamushi,steamed fish in sake or Japanese rice wine.So in other words, I was “fish happy” there!
What do you when the ache for such a yummy preparation of fish takes over when you wake up first thing in the morning and you have none of those Japanese ingredients in your pantry ? Give it a twist, in the story !! Thus evolved the Tandoori Salmon, a spicy close cousin no doubt, the main ingredient was still the fish !! Needless to say, every ingredient that went into making this dish, was neatly stacked in my pantry for ages to come 🙂 The end result still yummy !!
Tandoori Salmon
Ingredients
2 tbsp 2 homemade tandoori masala
1 tbsp 1 olive oil
1 tsp 1 salt
4 4 salmon fillets
1 tbsp 1 olive oil
1 tsp 1 cumin powder
1 tsp 1 garam masala
1 tsp 1 salt
4 4 -5 lemon slices
Few slices Few onion for garnishing
- How to make homemade Tandoori Masala?
3 tsp 3 cumin powder
3 tsp 3 coriander powder
2 tsp 2 turmeric powder
2 tsp 2 chili powder
2 tbsp 2 sweet paprika (for color)
2 tsp 2 cinnamon powder
4 4 cardamom pods – seeds removed and ground
Directions
- Mix the *homemade tandoori masala, olive oil and salt together to form a paste.
- Rub the paste over the salmon fillets and marinate at least 1 hour before cooking.
- Preheat the oven to 425F.
- Mix the olive oil, cumin, garam masala and salt together. Spread over the salmon fillets on a baking pan and bake for 30 minutes, or until the fish is just cooked through.
- Top with lemon slices and onion rings.
- To serve, sprinkle cilantro leaves over the baked fish and serve.
- How to make homemade Tandoori Masala?
- Combine all spices together in a bowl. Keep in an airtight jar to maintain freshness.
For my blogposts on Fish recipes, kindly check the links below :
This looks and sounds wonderful Maya, urging me to try it as soon as I have the ingredients.
Thank you for sharing the recipe…and telling us about your salmon breakfasts in Japan!