This dish started off as an idea to make wasabi salmon with a simple sesame noodle. I’m not much for recipes, just ideas and inspiration, so this is what transpired in the end…
Ingredients
Salmon, 250g; cut in half
Fresh udon noodle
One eggplant, chopped
Some asparagus (150g), chopped
Soy sauce
Olive oil
Sesame oil
Wasabi paste
Salt
Pepper
Make It Happen
Preheat oven to 205C or 400F
Cut the filet of salmon in half, long ways
Cover in olive oil, salt, pepper, and any other seasonings you prefer
Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes (salmon should be a light pink and flake off with ease)
While salmon is baking, bring a pot of water to a boil (add a little salt)
Place the fresh udon in boiling water for about 5-10 minutes. Stir regularly and taste before straining.
While that is boiling and the salmon is baking, cut up the asparagus and eggplant
Put the eggplant in a mixing bowl and cover with olive oil, soy sauce, and sesame oil
Stir fry until the eggplant is soft throughout (be sure to stir and turn a lot; the eggplant on the bottom will burn otherwise)
While the eggplant is frying, cover the asparagus in the same mixture.
(I added some wasabi here because that was the original inspiration, but it didn’t have much of an effect in the end.)
When eggplant is cooked, remove from stove and put asparagus on.
(I cook asparagus on it’s own always because it seems to cook at different pace than other veggies. Nothing worse than undercooked asparagus and overcooked eggplant.)
Remove the asparagus from heat (each piece should be quite soft, an easy test is to try the biggest piece in the pan. If that is done, the rest should be too!) and mix with the eggplant.
Leave the cooking juices in the pan!!!
After you have drained the noodle, add to the pan.
Add the cooked veggies and mix. (mix well! the oil, soy, sesame goodness becomes the sauce for the noodle, a sweet brown sauce that is not too heavy.)
Remove the salmon from oven when done and plate on top of noodle bed in a bolate (bowl plate).
Enjoy!!
(pairs well with Kirin or Asahi beer)
Ingredients from Fields online grocery delivery
Salmon from Norway, 250g; 60kuai
Fresh Udon noodles, 260g; 10 kuai
Organic Baby Eggplant, 500g; 22 kuai
Premium Organic Asparagus, 250g; 40 kuai
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