Recipe: Marinated Fried Salmon and Vegetable

Look what we got from farmer's market in Brooklyn last week..

It's so pretty. I would like to thank farmers for bringing those fresh veggies to our table.

As the lady of the store recommended, we made pesto sauce from carrot green which I usually discard. It was my first time to use carrot green for cooking, and it came out very well. Nothing to waste :)

And now we have plenty of carrot and leek.. it seems like it never finishes!

Today's recipe is Sake Nanban: Marinated Fried Salmon and Vegetables. And I am using carrot.

It's a delicious pickled fried salmon in Japanese style seasoning. It's got lovely colors, not only delicious to the eyes but also packed with nutrition.

What does Nanban mean?

Nanban originally means people from Portuguese, Netherlands and Spain, who arrived Japan during Nanban trade periods in the 16 centuries for trading or missionery. Later, it became the words to describe something brought by them.

Onion, peppers and deep-frying methods are the things brought from those countries in the period and become popular among Japanese people, that's why the word Nanban(Zuke means marinade) is used as a name of the dish.

The ports for Nanban trade were located in the northern area of Kyusyu island, where my hometown is, and we still see great cultural influence from the countries.

So that's the history and now, recipe!

鮭の南蛮漬け: Sake no Nanban Zuke
Marinated Fried Salmon and Vegetable
Cooking time: 40 minutes(Plus 2 hours of refrigeration)

Ingredients:

• 2 Salmon fillet
• 1/2  medium yellow onion: Thinly Sliced
• 1 Carrot: Thinly sliced
• 1/2 large bell pepper : Thinly Sliced
• Soy sauce: 2 tbsp
• Mirin: 2 tbsp
• Sugar: 1 tbsp
• Rice Vinegar: 3 tbsp
• Katakuriko(Potato Starch)
• Salt and Pepper
• Vegetable oil: 2tbsp

Steps:

1. Salt and pepper the salmon on both sides and leave it for 10 minutes
2. Make marinade: mix soy sauce, mirin, sugar and vinegar in a dish
3. Cut the salmon into bite size and dredge them in Katakuriko 
4. In a nonstick pan over medium heat, stir-fry onion and carrot(No oil needed)
5. Add bell pepper and keep stir-frying until cooked
6. Add 5 to marinade
7. Clean the pan, heat 2 tbsp of vegetable oil over medium heat and fry salmon until both sides are cooked and the crust become light brown
8. Add 8 to marinade
9. When it's cooled, let it rest in refrigerator for 2 hours
10.  Serve warm or cold

Good thing about this dish is, we can save it in the refrigerator up to 5 days. 

Instead of salmon, chicken, mackerels or sardines can be used and they taste great as well.

Enjoy!