In Tucson, Arizona there is a great rock club located in the historic Congress Hotel, with a warm and intimate performance room called The Club Congress. When I went there recently to see Sean Lennon and his band The Ghost of the Saber Tooth Tiger, I was immediately impressed with his engrossing performing style and his charmingly warm and low-keyed charisma. Something instinctively told me he was not only a rocker, but a “foodie” too. Well, I was right!
After the show that night I told Sean about my cooking blog, and asked him if he had a recipe he liked to cook when he was at home. He thought for a second and said, “First you take ginger, and you slice it very thin...” And away he went! With pen and paper I jotted down Sean’s recipe, and his insightful cooking tips for incredible salmon.
Amidst our conversation he told me, “When I say ‘The ginger should be sliced thin,’ I mean ‘very thin.’” So I asked him if he recommended “a mandolin for uniform ginger slices?” He said, “No, and I don’t like Cuisinart’s. You do it by hand. I don’t like everything so uniform.”
Then he proceeded to tell me something that I absolutely love: “Never buy pre-chopped vegetables. If you are too lazy to chop your own vegetables, you shouldn’t be cooking!”
Now, those are a chef’s words to live by! While he ran through his specific directions, I captured on paper this awesome formula for cooking salmon that is uncomplicated, quick, and delicious. According to Lennon, “The whole process should take ten minutes total.” By placing the lid over the salmon while it cooks, the ginger and scallions steam nicely, and they taste great eaten atop the tender and evenly cooked fish.
Ingredients:
– 4 Salmon Filets (with skin or without skin)
– 1 cup Slivered Fresh Ginger (see below for slivering instructions)
– 1 cup Finely Sliced Scallions
– 1/8 cup Olive Oil
– 1/4 cup Soy Sauce
Directions:
Peel the skin off of the ginger, and with a very sharp knife, carefully cut the ginger into coin-sized thin slices. Then cut the slices into what Sean describes as “spaghetti strips.”
Next slice the long green onions. As Sean explains, “The scallions you chop vertically, into thin slices.”
Heat a large frying pan or grilling pan. Add olive oil to prevent the salmon from sticking. You should use medium high heat to cook the salmon.
When the pan is heated, place the salmon filets in the pan, with the fat meaty side down, to put a sear on it. (If you are cooking salmon with skin, make sure you start with the skin side up).
After three minutes on that side, turn the salmon filets over, and as Sean instructs: “Smother the salmon with a blanket of ginger and scallions. Cover the pan with the lid for five minutes. Then sprinkle soy sauce into the pan, and heat for ten seconds covered.”
NOTE FROM SEAN: “Whatever you do, do not burn the soy sauce. You know how bad it smells burned, you want to avoid that.”
Note: I gave the fish closer to a full minute with the soy sauce on them, so make sure the flavor steamed into the salmon. I served the salmon with additional soy sauce to give it an added Asian-influenced tang.
Quick and easy to make, this salmon ala Sean is full of flavor, with the ginger and scallions add an exciting and spicy taste to the perfectly cooked fish.
After the show that night I told Sean about my cooking blog, and asked him if he had a recipe he liked to cook when he was at home. He thought for a second and said, “First you take ginger, and you slice it very thin...” And away he went! With pen and paper I jotted down Sean’s recipe, and his insightful cooking tips for incredible salmon.
Amidst our conversation he told me, “When I say ‘The ginger should be sliced thin,’ I mean ‘very thin.’” So I asked him if he recommended “a mandolin for uniform ginger slices?” He said, “No, and I don’t like Cuisinart’s. You do it by hand. I don’t like everything so uniform.”
Then he proceeded to tell me something that I absolutely love: “Never buy pre-chopped vegetables. If you are too lazy to chop your own vegetables, you shouldn’t be cooking!”
Now, those are a chef’s words to live by! While he ran through his specific directions, I captured on paper this awesome formula for cooking salmon that is uncomplicated, quick, and delicious. According to Lennon, “The whole process should take ten minutes total.” By placing the lid over the salmon while it cooks, the ginger and scallions steam nicely, and they taste great eaten atop the tender and evenly cooked fish.
Ingredients:
– 4 Salmon Filets (with skin or without skin)
– 1 cup Slivered Fresh Ginger (see below for slivering instructions)
– 1 cup Finely Sliced Scallions
– 1/8 cup Olive Oil
– 1/4 cup Soy Sauce
Directions:
Peel the skin off of the ginger, and with a very sharp knife, carefully cut the ginger into coin-sized thin slices. Then cut the slices into what Sean describes as “spaghetti strips.”
Next slice the long green onions. As Sean explains, “The scallions you chop vertically, into thin slices.”
Heat a large frying pan or grilling pan. Add olive oil to prevent the salmon from sticking. You should use medium high heat to cook the salmon.
When the pan is heated, place the salmon filets in the pan, with the fat meaty side down, to put a sear on it. (If you are cooking salmon with skin, make sure you start with the skin side up).
After three minutes on that side, turn the salmon filets over, and as Sean instructs: “Smother the salmon with a blanket of ginger and scallions. Cover the pan with the lid for five minutes. Then sprinkle soy sauce into the pan, and heat for ten seconds covered.”
NOTE FROM SEAN: “Whatever you do, do not burn the soy sauce. You know how bad it smells burned, you want to avoid that.”
Note: I gave the fish closer to a full minute with the soy sauce on them, so make sure the flavor steamed into the salmon. I served the salmon with additional soy sauce to give it an added Asian-influenced tang.
Quick and easy to make, this salmon ala Sean is full of flavor, with the ginger and scallions add an exciting and spicy taste to the perfectly cooked fish.