Dear Reader,

Today (2023-01-02) is a public holiday in Australia to celebrate the new year.

Because it’s a Monday, I have a piece of salmon for dinner. I usually have salmon for dinner on Mondays for those unfamiliar with my habits.

I’m going to make a cold salmon and noodles meal using salmon cooked in a water bath (i.e., sous vide).

To avoid the appearance of white albumin on the surface of the salmon, it’s worth brining the salmon for 10 minutes in 9% brine before cooking.

I know some people don’t like sous vide salmon, so if you want, you can grill the salmon or bake it in an oven. For pan-frying, I usually place the salmon into a non-stick frying pan and put the lid on for 5 minutes, and the salmon is ready. Baking is more straightforward and takes 15 minutes at 200 °C.

Preparing the salmon

• Place a fillet into a 9% brine (one tablespoon of salt into one cup of water).
• Refrigerate the salmon for 10 minutes.

Recipe

Equipment

• Water bath
• Water heater/circulator

Ingredients

• Salmon
• Noodles
• Chilli oil
• Peas
• Corn
• Spring onion
• Basil
• Mint
• Parsley
• Pomegranate
• Olive oil

Instructions

1. Add a tablespoon of honey and a couple of tablespoons of light soy sauce in a vacuum bag.
2. Place the brined fillet of salmon into a vacuum bag and seal the bag.
3. Cook in a water bath at 50 °C for 45 minutes.
4. Remove the salmon from the water bath and refrigerate the salmon.
5. Boil some water and add a little salt.
6. Cook the noodles in the water according to the instructions on the packet.
7. Pour the noodles into a sieve and run the noodles under cold tap water.
8. Drain the cold noodles and place them into a bowl; add some neutral vegetable oil and use chopsticks to coat them with oil. This will stop the noodles from sticking together.
9. Put the bowl of noodles into the refrigerator.
10. When it’s time to put the meal together, quickly plunge some frozen peas and corn kernels into boiling water for a few minutes, then rinse in cold water and drain.
11. Roughly chop some parsley, mint, and basil leaves.
12. Bang a pomegranate to release the arils.
13. Take the salmon from the vacuum bag and, with a spoon, flake the fillet into bite-sized pieces.
14. Place the noodles into a large bowl, and with salad spoons, lift and separate the noodles.
15. Add the flaked salmon, peas, and corn and toss the salad.
16. Add in the other vegetation, pour some chilli oil over the salad, and keep tossing it to get the chilli oil coating the noodles and salmon.
17. Transfer half of the salmon and noodle salad to a bowl and serve.
18. Place the other half into an airtight container and refrigerate for lunch.
19. Give thanks to the Lord.
20. Eat with chopsticks or a fork.

Final thoughts

1. I like sous vide salmon because the flesh is cooked evening and is never tough or dry.
2. The duration and temperature are likely to better pasteurise the flesh when compared with pan-drying or oven-cooking.
3. The flesh flakes more easily.
4. Chilli oil is worth adding to a meal like this. My lips and tongue agree.

Photographs

Endnotes

Brining. Treat food with coarse salt to preserve and season it. Use iodised salt if you can because iodised salt should always be used. Don’t believe the so-called natural health people who say to avoid it. Iodised salt helps to prevent cretinism.

Banging a pomegranate. I get the arils out by banging the outside of a halved pomegranate with the spine or back of a heavy knife. It’s easier than picking out the arils with your finger, which is as satisfying as using a curette to dig blackheads out of someone’s skin. In some ways, a pomegranate is like a carbuncle with locules of pus.