Red Squadron Honey Sriracha Salmon (with sweet potatoes)

Once upon a time, my dear partner went fishing in Alaska with his grandfather, dad, brother, uncles, and cousins.  This was all well and good, save for the fact that my partner a) doesn't fish, b) doesn't like fishing, and c) hates traveling.

He had a surprisingly good time and came home with a wealth of amazing photos, stories, and memories.

... and 70lb of fish.  35lb salmon, 35lb halibut.

Which is awesome!  Save for the fact that I don't didn't know how to cook salmon.  I actually made myself seasick (har har) watching YouTube videos on how to cook salmon ahead of my partner's victorious return so I'd have some recipes ready to try.

This was the second recipe I tried, and it was so good that we stopped trying other recipes just so we could eat this one again and again and again.  And it should be noted here that the first night we had it, I got the fish into the marinade, then passed out from exhaustion (it's been a looooooong few weeks here y'all) and my dear partner cooked the fish and the sweet potatoes.  Note that he's not much of cook, so the fact that he was comfortable diving in (har har) and cooking this without me around to answer questions tells you how easy this dish is.

And delicious.  Y'all.  You can't even imagine.

I'm including here my recipe for mashed sweet potatoes as well because a) they're so unbelievably good with this, and b) what's Red Squadron without their garish orange flight suits?  (Naked.  They're naked.  That ... might be kind of nice.  But make the sweet potatoes to go with the fish.  Don't think too hard.

Red Squadron Honey Sriracha Salmon
with a side of mashed sweet potatoes

Ingredients

For the fish
1 Tbsp Sriracha
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tbsp water
1/2 lb salmon, skin removed
1 Tbsp olive oil (for cooking)

For the sweet potatoes
1 medium sweet potato, peeled
1/4 cup plain yogurt (or sour cream if you prefer)
1 Tbsp butter
Dash salt

Instructions
For the fish
  1. In a container just big enough to hold your salmon, combine Sriracha, honey, soy sauce, garlic, and water. Whisk to combine. 
  2. Cut the skin off the salmon. YouTube is your friend if you don't know how to skin a fish. Cut the filet in half lengthwise so you have two strips of fish.
  3. Place the fish skin-side down in the marinade, then roll it over so it's the other side down. Leave it like that while it marinates.
  4. Put the marinating salmon into the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. 
  5. When you're ready to cook the fish, preheat the oven to 425*F. (Hey future me.  This is when you want to start the potatoes steaming.  Unless you're making roasted brussels sprouts, in which case, you want to roast those for 25 minutes before you move on to the next step.  Roast the sprouts and fish at the same time/temp.)
  6. I line a 9" steel frying pan with a silpat for baking the fish, but I think "normal" people do it in a baking pan with a piece of parchment paper or tin foil or something?  But the frypan is nice because it cups all the marinade around the fish and helps spread the flavor, so ... make your choice here. 
  7. Place your fish skin-side down on whatever you choose to bake on/in, and spoon some of the marinade over it. (Hey future me.  This is when you want to start the broccoli steaming.)
  8. Bake 15-20 minutes, or until it's done.  How do you know it's done?  Search me.  I pulled it out and stabbed it with a fork to see if it was done, so that's my method.
  9. Serve with a side of sweet potatoes and a green vegetable. So far, I can vouch for steamed asparagus, roasted okra, and roasted Brussels sprouts. 
For the sweet potatoes
  1. Peel your sweet potato and cut it into 1/4-1/3" coins.
  2. Quarter each coin.
  3. Steam the sweet potato chunks at least 25 minutes, or until completely tender.
  4. Combine with yogurt, butter, and salt, and mash until smooth. I do this bit while the fish finishes baking; like a few minutes before the fish is done so that the potatoes stay warm.
  5. Serve warm!
P.S.
If you make a double batch of the marinade and put double the fish into it to marinate, you end up with two nights' of dinner ready to bake up, and that?  That is awesome.

P.P.S.
So many blessings upon this dude on YouTube who has taught me everything I needed to know about skinning and de-boning salmon.  Salt of the earth you are, sir!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Pesto Pizza Monkey Bread

Nice Day for a Vegan Wedding

Pescatarian Surf 'n Turf