A delicious blend of flavors and textures from the Pacific Northwest that will surprise your guests and your taste buds.
Ingredients:
4 portions salmon, skin on
2 large leeks
Cooking oil (recommend grape seed for grilling due to high smoke point and mild flavor)
3 cups soy beans, shucked
1 cup sake, or dry white wine
½ cup soy sauce
¼ cup any citrus juice or a mix of will do
2 tablespoons microplaned ginger
2 tablespoons microplaned garlic
To prepare the ragout, clean and trim leeks, then cut leeks in half from top to bottom. Lightly oil, and place on grill over medium heat. Grill until leeks are golden brown on cut side, then turn over and grill other side until golden brown. Remove leeks from grill and let rest on a plate. The leeks will steam and finish cooking on plate. Once leeks are cool to touch, cut into half moons, about ½ inch thick. Set aside.
On your side burner, heat a sauté pan. Place about 3 tablespoons oil in pan, sauté garlic and ginger together. Add soy beans to pan and turn off heat. Let beans cook in pan for a minute or so, then add the cut leeks. Stir to combine. Finish ragout by adding sake, soy sauce, and citrus juice. Stir to combine and set aside.
To cook the salmon, heat a grill topper, ideally cast-iron, over medium heat for 12-25 minutes. Once hot, place salmon skin side down on topper and let cook for about 4 minutes. While salmon is cooking use tongs to peel the salmon off of the skin, leaving the skin on the topper. Set salmon aside.
Continue cooking skin on the topper like a piece of bacon, rendering out the fat, and a nice crispy piece of skin will be done in a few minutes. While skin is cooking, season the salmon with salt and pepper, and lightly coat with cooking oil. Cook salmon on the grill over medium heat until salmon is cooked to desired temperature. Once salmon meat is cooked, remove from grill and set aside.
Plate in a “pasta bowl” with a large spoonful of the ragout, topped with a piece of grilled salmon and garnished with crispy skin. Be sure to salt the skin like a potato chip. Complete garnish with sprouts, pea shoots or a small herb salad.