Sockeyed

Notwithstanding the heat–which is under control lately, hovering in a dry and resplendent range that should be the summer default–it’s still hard for me to cook a beautiful piece of sockeye salmon. That was the idea buying it, and it ended up being the result, though not before I had my way with an uncooked portion because I couldn’t keep my hands off of it. So dinner ended up being sashimi and then curry, both heavy on the salmon.

“Making” sashimi is a pretty funny concept, but I did come up with a pretty skippy sauce that could replace ponzu in many applications: local soy sauce and local cider vinegar (the Monk’s Special Reserve, aged over a year). It doesn’t quite have the impact of yuzu, but the fruit and acid notes are fully present and it doesn’t require importing expensive little citrus fruits from Japan. And it was sublime with the fat, creamy slices of vermilion fish flesh.

Next up, the curry. I invented this years ago in Brooklyn, and it deserves its spot in the rotation. I sweat onion, carrot, minced preserved lemon, and some seeds (green coriander and mustard in this case) then stir in a bit of vindaloo paste, then add pieces of sweet potato. After a few minutes of softening, I add tomato purée and let it simmer for a bit. Then I add cubes of fish (skinned) and, here, beet greens. Then it simmers a bit more. I found a couple of garlic scapes in the back of the fridge so I minced them for a garnish, and unceremoniously dumped it onto brown rice.

Those beet-carrot pickles and sauerkraut from a couple posts back made a wonderful duo of condiments, given that chutneys and such seem to have run out. For wine, I wished for Riesling, which would have been good with both dishes, but there was none on hand. I did have a pretty astonishing white, though, that I need to learn more about before I put up a post about it.