Seared Salmon with Sesame Bok Choy and Spinach
Browsing through my cookbooks, I came across this wonderful recipe from the Gourmet cookbook for Salmon with Sesame Bok Choy and Spinach. It's a very flavorful dish. I prepared it with Jasmine rice alongside. I suggest having every ingredient prepared and ready to go before starting the salmon, as this recipe will only take less than 10 minutes to cook once your pan is on the fire. Make sure to taste the vegetables before seasoning with salt, as the soy may already give it the flavor needed. Bon Appetit!!
Browsing through my cookbooks, I came across this wonderful recipe from the Gourmet cookbook for Salmon with Sesame Bok Choy and Spinach. It's a very flavorful dish. I prepared it with Jasmine rice alongside. I suggest having every ingredient prepared and ready to go before starting the salmon, as this recipe will only take less than 10 minutes to cook once your pan is on the fire. Make sure to taste the vegetables before seasoning with salt, as the soy may already give it the flavor needed. Bon Appetit!!
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds toasted
- 4 boneless salmon fillets
- 1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms stems discarded, caps sliced â½ inch thick
- 2 garlic cloves chopped
- 1 pound baby bok choy trimmed, quartered lengthwise, rinsed and drained
- 1 5 oz bag baby spinach
- 1 â½ tablespoons finely grated peeled fresh ginger
- 1 teaspoon asian sesame oil
- Carbohydrate 7.21732842298032 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 24.1596128779636 g
- Fiber 2.64148093406981 g
- Protein 4.16922139069542 g
- Saturated Fat 2.02660602859284 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (250g)
- Sodium 78.238760132669 mg
- Sugar 4.57584748891051 g
- Trans Fat 0.527604526119124 g
- Calories 250 calories
Step-by-step
- Pat the salmon dry and sprinkle with ½ teaspoon salt. Heat oil in a 12-inch skillet over moderately high heat, until hot but not smoking.
- Add salmon and cook turning once, until golden and just cooked through, 5 to 6 minutes.
- Transfer to a plate and keep warm.
- Add mushrooms to oil in skillet and cook stirring until wilted and golden, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add the garlic, and then add bok choy with water still on leaves if possible. Cook and toss until just tender, 3 minutes.
- Remove from heat and add spinach, ginger, sesame oil, soy sauce. Season with salt, or to taste, tossing to combine.
- Serve the vegetables topped with salmon and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
High-heat pan-searing requires absolute preparation before the burner is ignited because cooking proceeds in rapid, unbroken succession once the fish hits the oil. A heavy 12-inch skillet retains the thermal mass necessary to sear four fillets without dropping temperature, ensuring a golden crust develops on the salmon within six minutes.
- Pat the salmon dry with paper towels to eliminate surface moisture, which prevents steaming and guarantees proper contact with the hot oil.
- Leave residual water clinging to the washed bok choy leaves when adding them to the skillet; this moisture generates steam that helps wilt the greens rapidly without scorching the garlic.
- Incorporate the baby spinach off the heat so residual pan warmth gently wilts the leaves rather than turning them into a purée.
- Scale this preparation proportionally by surface area rather than volume, ensuring overcrowded pans are avoided by cooking the fish in batches if the skillet diameter falls below twelve inches.
Balance the sodium profile by withholding additional salt until the vegetables and soy sauce are fully combined and tasted. Toasting raw sesame seeds beforehand in a dry pan over medium heat for precisely two minutes maximizes their aromatic oils before the final garnish.
