On the Table - Kimchi Eggplant Salmon

Moving into a new place comes with mixed feelings. On the one hand you’re excited because it’s ‘new’ but on the other hand there’s a sense that you’re leaving something behind. We enjoyed our previous place and we made a lot of memories. It wasn’t perfect, but it was home. Living abroad, you often struggle to make a place ‘home’ keeping in mind that your stay might just be for a short while. For some, that means living out a suitcase and for others that means not spending money on things you won’t eventually take with you. It can mean always getting the cheaper option or getting a different option. One easy way to make a house feel like a home is a home-cooked meal and it wasn’t until I cooked something that our new place felt like home – that and the fact that less and less boxes were standing around unopened.

Every Friday, I like to make something nice to eat and today I made our family favourite, salmon, with a little Asian twist. We love salmon and eat it at least once a week. It’s a great fish and because it’s quite rich you only need a small piece to feel satisfied. Reuben has his with just plain white steamed-rice. Sometimes he’ll dare a little sauce but mostly plain. We have it with everything from salad to steamed-veg. Today I combined my two favourite things: eggplant (aubergine or brinjal) and kimchi to make this delicious bed for my salmon to rest in. But, first I needed something that could pull all my components together: que homemade chilli-oil.

Chilli-oil is pretty easy to make and best of all you can add as much ‘bite’ as you wish. To start of you will need:

Heat the oil in the pan then add the garlic and chilli flakes. Heat the oil until you smell the flavours from the chilli and garlic come through. Add the paprika and heat through. Pour the oil in a glass jar and cool on the counter. Once cooled, store in the fridge.  

Slice up the garlic and you can add as much spice as you want. 

Fry until aromatic.

Now, that I had my oil, I started on my salad. I washed and dried one medium-sized eggplant and cut it into 1-inch cubes. I dusted it with a little flour and seasoned it with salt, pepper, dried thyme and paprika. Then I deep fried it in hot oil. The oil should be hot enough so when you drop the eggplant in it, it should start frying immediately. You don’t want it to sit in cold oil and soak it up. Once the eggplant was golden brown, I scooped it out and drained it on some kitchen towel. Then I chopped up some kimchi, about 150g. Once the eggplant had drained I mixed the kimchi and eggplant in a salad bowl. 

Light dusting of flour helps to eggplant fry crispy. 

Kimchi is a Korean dish of fermented cabbage. 

Everything was coming together nicely. All that was left was to fry up the salmon. We bought some Norwegian Salmon from our local supermarket. When you buy salmon, make sure to scale the fish and remove any bones. I have a little kitchen pliers I use to pull out those long thin bones. This time though, my fish monger did a great job and all I had to do was cut it into steaks. I cut each steak into roughly 3-4 inches. Then, I seasoned it with salt, pepper, dried thyme and paprika as well.

Norwegian Salmon

Cut into steaks and seasoned.

The key to frying a piece of fish is getting it skin-side down into a hot frying pan. I lightly oiled a pan with some olive oil and heated it over medium heat. Fry until the skin is crispy brown and then fry the other side until done. You can usually tell when the fish is done by how it looks. The colour changes and when you push it with your fingers it’s less mushy if you can get my meaning. Almost the same way you can tell whether your steak is medium-rare or well-done.

Fry skin side down. 

Fry until the skin turns crispy.

Turn and fry on the other side. 

Now it was time to plate up these beautiful steaks. First, a light sprinkle of chilli oil on the bottom, then a layer of the delicious kimchi eggplant salad. Then, the lovely salmon. I topped it off with a slice of lemon and salad greens and another light sprinkle of chilli oil.

Getting used to my new set up.

A little chilli oil. 

Layer the eggplant and kimchi.

Then the lovely salmon on top.

 

I was told to smile for this shot lol. 

Some salad greens and lemon with a last sprinkle of oil. 

Viola!

It was delightful and satisfying. It’s a rich decadent dish with the kimchi adding the zing the fish needs. I would probably add extra kimchi next time. The sprinkle of chilli oil brings it all together with just the slight ‘bite’ towards the back. We enjoyed this meal. I’ll make it again, soon.  

Thank you for joining me for another season here at The GEM. I love getting all the feedback. Drop me a line at givingiteverythingandmore@gmail.com and follow me on Instagram @givingiteverythingandmore.