Miso Salmon Sake Misozuke With Spinach Sauce Food

MISO-MARINATED SALMON

Steps:

• First, make the tama-miso sauce. In a small cup, mix the sake with 2 tablespoons water. In a suribachi or other mortar, grind the miso, sugar, and egg yolk to a smooth paste. Add the rice wine and water mixture little by little, grinding all the time. Season to taste with shoyu. Have at hand a bowl half-filled with cold water and ice cubes. Transfer the sauce to the top of a double-boiler, and cook the sauce over simmering water, stirring constantly and thoroughly so you do not scramble the egg, until the sauce becomes thicker, about 6 to 8 minutes. Set the bowl of sauce in the bowl of cold water and ice cubes to cool. Tama-miso may be stored in the refrigerator, covered, for three days. Heat the sauce through before using it.
• Salt the fish on both sides, and rest it on a steel rack set over the pan, for 1 hour in the refrigerator.
• In a medium bowl, soften the miso by stirring in the sake and mirin. Spread one-third of the miso mixture in the bottom of a large pan in which the fish can fit without overlapping. Lay a tightly woven cotton cloth or two layers of cheesecloth over the miso in the pan. Wipe the salted salmon with a paper towel to remove the salt and the liquid exuded from the fish. Place all the salmon pieces on the cloth in the pan, and cover them with another tightly woven cotton cloth or two layers of cheese cloth. Spread the remaining miso mixture over the cloth, covering the surface completely. Wrap the entire pan with plastic wrap, and refrigerate it for 5 hours.
• In a small saucepan, combine the dry white wine, komezu, and shallot. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to very low, and cook the mixture until it is reduced to 1 tablespoon syrup.
• In a large pot of boiling water, parboil the spinach, excluding the 4 leaves, 1 to 2 minutes. Cool the spinach in ice water, and drain the spinach well. In a food processor, purée the spinach. In a skillet, heat 1 inch oil over medium heat to 320°F. One at a time, add the 4 reserved spinach leaves to the oil, and cook them until they are bright green and translucent, 10 to 15 seconds. Transfer the spinach to paper towels to drain.
• Lift the top cloth (or cloths) from the salmon, and remove the salmon from the marinade. Discard the marinade, or reserve it to use as a fish marinade one more time within 2 weeks, after heating it through and adding more miso and sake, or for making miso soup. If there is any miso residue on the fish, gently wipe it away with a paper towel. At this point you can refrigerate the fish, in a well-sealed plastic bag, for up to 3 days, or freeze it for a longer period.
• Heat a broiler or grill, and the broiler pan or grill rack. With a pastry brush, lightly grease the pan or rack. Transfer the salmon to the pan or rack, and cook the salmon, turning once, until both sides are light golden. A 1-inch-thick salmon steak needs about 8 minutes' total cooking. Marinated fish burns easily, so you may need to cover the fish with aluminum foil as it cooks.
• In a small saucepan, combine 2 Tbsp tama-miso sauce with the reduced vinegar-wine syrup. Place the saucepan over low heat, and cook until the mixture is heated through. Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl, and add the spinach purée. Little by little, whisk in the olive oil. Serve the salmon with the spinach sauce underneath and garnished with the fried spinach leaves.

SAKE AND MISO MARINATED SALMON WITH COCONUT RICE AND BROCCOLINI

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, whisk together the miso, brown sugar, sake and mirin. Place the salmon, skin-side down, in a large resealable bag. Pour in the marinade and close the bag. Lightly massage to coat the salmon with the marinade. Place the bag flat on a sheet tray. Marinate for 12 to 24 hours in the refrigerator.
• Preheat the broiler (on low if you have a low and high setting).
• Line an 18-by-13-inch sheet pan with foil and fit with an 8 1/2-by-12-inch wire rack on one side. Drizzle or brush the rack and aluminum foil with some olive oil.
• Remove the salmon from the marinade and sprinkle with salt. Place the salmon fillets side-by-side, skin-side down, on top of the rack. Spread the broccolini in a single layer on the other half of the sheet pan and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle the broccolini with the crushed red pepper flakes and salt.
• Broil on the top rack until the salmon reaches 135 degrees F, 5 to 7 minutes.
• If desired, remove the salmon skin from the fillets before serving. Serve the salmon and broccolini with a side of Coconut Rice.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Melt the coconut oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Add the rinsed rice to the pot and stir. (This creates a nice fat barrier to ensure well-separated grains of rice.) Add the coconut milk, salt and 2 cups water to the pot. Give it a good stir and cover with a lid. Bring to a boil, then immediately lower to a gentle simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes, then take off the heat with the lid still on and let the rice rest for 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, place the shredded coconut on a parchment-lined sheet pan. Bake until golden brown and crispy, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool.
• Fluff the rice with a fork and serve with the lime wedges and a nice sprinkle of toasted coconut.

MISO SALMON WITH SAKE BUTTER

Steps:

• Bring water and rice to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until most of the water has been absorbed, about 20 minutes. Place snow peas on top of the rice and steam, covered, until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Transfer snow peas to a bowl to stop cooking.
• Set oven rack about 6 inches from the heat source and preheat the oven's broiler.
• Line a baking dish with aluminum foil and coat with cooking spray. Arrange salmon fillets in the dish.
• Whisk brown sugar, soy sauce, water, and miso together in a small bowl. Spoon over salmon.
• Broil salmon in the preheated oven, basting it frequently with the topping mixture, until it is golden brown and flakes easily with a fork, 10 to 15 minutes.
• Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add ginger and shallots; cook and stir until shallots are translucent, 2 to 3 minutes. Add 1/2 cup sake; bring to a boil and cook until reduced by 2/3, about 3 minutes. Add heavy cream; bring to a boil and cook until sauce is reduced by half, about 2 minutes.
• Whisk in cubes of butter one at a time until incorporated and sauce is thick and creamy. Remove from heat. Whisk in remaining 1 tablespoon sake and lime juice. Season with salt.
• Spoon some sake sauce onto 4 serving plates. Place rice in the middle of each and top with a piece of salmon. Arrange snow peas around each plate. Garnish with chives.