The fiddleheads rampage continues. Fiddlehead ferns are versatile fronds and this is a simple and outstanding recipe with salmon. A wide smile is painted on my face when I eat this satisfying and wild dish of Portland, Oregon meets home-style Asian fusion. Not to mention, this salmon recipe is fantastic left-over eats with rice.
Sesame oil sauteed fiddlehead ferns
One easy way to enjoy fiddleheads is in a quick saute of sesame oil. Sesame oil is one of those magical Asian creations in which everything it touches (as long as it is in moderation) is elevated to new levels of taste and flavor. Such wealth.
After a quick clean, rinse, and blanch, dry off the fiddleheads for their impending dip into the sesame oil pool. Bring a saute pan to a good temperature over medium heat. Once the pan is hot but not blistering hot, pour in some sesame oil. Remember, a little goes a long way. Toss in the beautiful fiddleheads and give them a quick saute. Since the fiddleheads are already edible after its blanch, one does not need to cook them terribly long in the oil. Just long enough to impart the delicious sesame-ness goodness and to cook the fiddleheads to ones preferred doneness. I prefer mine still snappy and crunchy aka al dente vegetables.
These sesame flavored fiddlehead ferns can then be used for a variety of dishes. We will be using them as a side topping to baked salmon over Korean-style rice.
fiddlehead ferns from Peter Grevstad's flickr stream
Baked salmon topped with a mixture of mayo, minced fiddleheads, diced shrimp, lemons, scallions, and potato chips
The method I’m going to lay out below is such an awesome way to prepare salmon and other fishes. I am a firm believer of eating fish rare to medium rare, if possible, especially for a pesce like salmon. Covering the salmon with a flavored mayo mixture really helps in keeping the fish more moist (and medium rare) as the salmon is not directly exposed to the heat of the oven. Plus, I have a serious addiction to mayonnaise, so I like this very much.
Use a healthy slab of salmon fillet and make sure it does not smell too fishy. The texture of the uncooked pink salmon should be firm and oily, not mushy and red colored. Please be sure to be a good sailor and elect to purchase salmon with the skin on. The salmon’s skin is great eats and is extremely high in unique vitamins and minerals (ladies, it is good for one’s skin).
salmon from shauna glutenfreegirl's flickr
Prepare the salmon by simply seasoning it with salt & pepper. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Create the mayo topping by mincing blanched fiddleheads (not the ones that were sauteed in sesame oil), dicing raw shrimp, and chopping scallions (or green onions). Mix these ingredients into the mayo so that it is evenly distributed. Season it slightly. Place slices of lemon on the body of the salmon fillet. Then mound on and spread around the mayo mixture. Take the potato chips and crunch them over the mayo topped salmon. The chips will give it a unique saltiness and some extra textural contrast.
When finished, serve the salmon in bowls on top of sticky style rice and ladles of sesame flavored fiddlehead ferns. The sweet and creamy mayo plays so wonderfully with the medium rare salmon. The hot rice on the bowl’s bottom rounds out the comfort-food like finese to the dish while the sesame oil flavored fiddleheads provide even more flavor depth to this simple yet elegant family-style dish.
